Network Cables – CAT5 – CAT6
CAT5 (Cat-5) or category 5 cable maintains a high signal integrity by using what’s known as a twisted pair. The twisted pair design helps with noise rejection because most cables are unshielded. Category 5e (CAT5e or Cat-5e) has replaced the category 5 specification. Category 5 cable includes twisted pairs in a single cable jacket. A high signal-to-noise ratio is maintained by the use of balanced lines. They are mostly used in 100 Mbit/s networks.
CAT6 (Cat-6) or category 6 cable is used for Gigabit Ethernet. It is also backward compatible with category 5, category 5e and category 3 standards. CAT6 has a much more stringent specification.