Cat 5E, Cat 6, Cat 6A and Cat 7 Cables
Category 5 (CAT 5E), Category 6 (CAT 6 and CAT 6A) and Category 7 (CAT 7) cables are structured cabling for computer networks such as Ethernet. Their specification cover their construction, performance characteristics and test requirements. Category 7 cables are specified in CENELEC EN 50173:2002 and ISO/IEC 11801:2002 standards for installation cables only, however Category 7 cables are not yet recognised by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA/EIA). Category 7 cables, in addition to the approved Cat 5e, 6 and 6a LAN cables, form part of a wide range of cables used for the transmission of Gigabit Ethernet.
CAT 5E, CAT 6 & CAT 6A Specification & Applications
| Cat 5E | Category 5E supports a frequency range of up to 100MHz and is designed for transmission speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gigabit Ethernet). |
| Cat 6 | Category 6 supports a frequency range of up to 250MHz and is designed for transmission speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (Gigabit Ethernet). Cat6 offer improved performance and transmission reliability, especially in connection with the 1000BaseT and 1000BaseTX protocols. |
| Cat 6A | A very high performance data cable designed for transmission speeds of up to 10GB per second. Developed specifically with the new 10GBaseT Ethernet protocol in mind. Category 6a offers 500MHz bandwidth and so is suitable for the most data-intensive applications used on metallic computer networks. |
| Cat 7 | Category 7 cables are very high performance data cable designed for transmission speeds of up to 10GB per second over 100m, and supporting frequency ranges up to 600MHz. They are backwards conmpatible with Cat 5e, Cat 6 and Cat 6a, and have individual and overall screening to meet strict crosstalk requirements. |
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CAT 5E Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable Construction
| Cat 5E UTP PVC | Cat 5E UTP PE | Cat 5E UTP SWA LSZH | Cat 5E UTP LSZH | Cat 5E 25 UTP LSZH |
Cat 5E 25 UTP PE Duct Grade |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of pairs | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 25 | 25 |
| Conductor | Solid copper (Class 1) | |||||
| Insulation | High density Polyethylene (HDPE) | HDPE | PE | |||
| Drain wire | - | - | ||||
| Separator | - | Mylar tape | ||||
| Screen | - | - | ||||
| Braiding / armour | - | Steel wire armour (SWA) | - | |||
| Rip cord | Tinned copper | - | Nylon | |||
| Outersheath | PVC | PE | Low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) | PE | ||
| Colour | Grey | Black | Violet | Grey | Black | |
| Cat 5E FTP PVC | Cat 5E FTP PE | Cat 5E FTP LSZH | Cat 5E PE FTP GSWB LSZH | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of pairs | 4 | |||
| Conductor | Solid copper (Class 1) | |||
| Insulation | HDPE | PE | ||
| Drain wire | Tinned copper | |||
| Screen | Al-foil | |||
| Braiding | - | GSWB | ||
| Outersheath | PVC | PE | Low smoke zero halogen (LSZH) | |
| Colour | Grey | Black | Violet | Black |
Cat6 & Cat6A Cable Constructions
| Cat 6E FTP PE | Cat 6A U/FTP LSZH | Cat 6E U/UTP LSZH | Cat 6A U/UTP PE | Cat 6 U/UTP SWA LSZH | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of pairs | 4 | ||||
| Conductor | Solid copper (Class 1) | ||||
| Insulation | HDPE | PE | Polyolefin | HDPE | PE |
| Drain wire | Tinned copper | ||||
| Screen | Al-foil (collective) | Al-foil (individual) | |||
| Outersheath | Low density polyethylene (LDPE) | LSZH | LSZH | LDPE | LSZH |
| Colour | Black | Blue | Light blue | Black | Black |
CAT7 Cable Construction
| Cat 7 S/FTP 4 Pair LSZH | Veriflex PUR Industrial Ethernet Cable (cat7) | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of Pairs | 4 | 4 |
| Conductor | Solid Copper (Class 1) | Stranded Copper |
| Insulation | Foam-skin PE | Foam-skin PE |
| Individual screen | Aluminium / mylar tape | Aluminium / Polyester tape (Al/PET) |
| Drain wire | Tinned copper | |
| Overall screen | Tinned copper wire braid (TCWB) | Tinned copper wire braid (TCWB) |
| Outersheath | LSZH | Polyurethane (PUR) |
| Colour | Grey | Green |
Ethernet Cable Standards & Datasheets
The definitions of Ethernet cable standards are covered further in our FAQs. We supply a wide range of CAT 5E cable, CAT 6 cable, CAT 6A cable and CAT 7 cables - the attached datasheets provide for the most commonly requested materials and configurations, but others are available on request and our technical team can support the selection of cables and the most appropriate cable standard for your application. For cables referred to as industrial ethernet, see our range of BUS cables. Our technical team has a wealth of experience in supporting customers with the selection of the optimal cable where in addition to being a Cat 7 cable supplier we can provide a range of Cat 7 cable tests through The Cable Lab® including testing services in relation to third-party structured cabling and installations.
Cat 5e, Cat 6 and Cat6a Cables
YOUR CABLE OPTIONS
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| Product name | Part No | Pairs | Nominal cross-sectional area (mm²) | Size (AWG) | Sheath colour | Length (m) | Quantity (305m box) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat 5E FTP PVC Cable | A8NFORCE5EFTP | 4P | n/a | AWG 24 | Grey | n/a | ||
| Cat 6 U/UTP SWA LSZH Cable | A8NCAT6UTPSWA | 4P | n/a | AWG 23 | Black | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E UTP PVC Cable | A8NFORCE5EUTP | 4P | n/a | AWG 24 | Grey | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E UTP PE External Cable | A8NFORCE5EUTPPE | 4P | n/a | AWG 24 | Black | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E FTP PE Cable | A8NFORCE5EFTPPE | 4P | n/a | AWG 24 | Black | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E FTP LSZH Cable | A8NFORCE5EFTPLS | 4 | n/a | n/a | Violet | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E PE FTP GSWB LSZH Cable | A8NCAT5EFTPGSWB | 4P | n/a | AWG 24 | Black | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E UTP SWA LSZH Cable | A8NCAT5EUTPSWA | 4P | n/a | AWG 24 | Black | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E UTP LSZH Cable | A8NFORCE5EUTPLS | 4P | n/a | AWG 24 | Violet | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E 25 Pair UTP LSZH Cable | A8NCAT5E25PRLS | 25P | n/a | AWG 24 | Grey | n/a | ||
| Cat 5E 25 Pair UTP PE Duct Grade Cable | A8NCAT5E25PRDG | 25P | n/a | AWG 24 | Black | n/a | ||
| Cat 6 FTP PE Cable | A8NCAT6FTPPE | 4P | n/a | AWG 23 | Black | n/a | ||
| Cat 6 UTP PE Cable | A8NFORCE6PE | 4 | n/a | n/a | Black | n/a | ||
| Cat 6 UTP LSZH Cable | A8NFORCE6LSZH | 4P | n/a | AWG 23 | Violet | n/a | ||
| Cat 6A U/FTP LSZH Cable | A8NFORCE6ALS | 4P | n/a | AWG 23 | Blue | n/a | ||
| Belden 10GX24 Cat 6A U/UTP LSZH Cable | zz000036083 | 4P | n/a | AWG 23 | Blue | n/a | ||
| Cat 7 S/FTP 4-pair LSZH Cable | A8NFORCE7LSZH | 4P | n/a | AWG 24 | Orange | n/a | ||
| Veriflex PUR Industrial Ethernet Cable | VBUIEN08G3PUGN1 | 4P | 0.22mm² | n/a | Green | n/a | ||
| Cat 6 F/UTP LSZH Cable | A8NFORCE6FTPLS | 4 | n/a | 23 | Violet | n/a |