TYPES OF CABLES

All computer devices such as a keyboard, a mouse, CPU, modem, etc. are connected using a Ethernet cable. Ethernet cables are determined and distinguished by their quality. By quality it means, the amount of transmission load the cable can handle. Following are some Ethernet cable types:

Normal Ethernet Cables
A normal Ethernet cable is a straight-through cable, where the smaller cables inside the Ethernet cable on both ends will be in the same order of colors, from left to right. There are two standards in which the colors of the cables are arranged, they are; T-568A and T-568B. The variation in their color order is not an indication of their performance, but just their standard. This type of cable is used to connect the computer to a hub or router to a switch.

Ethernet Cable Categories (Cat)
Cat 3 - This category was widely used as a voice cabling format among computer network administrators in the 1990s. It is an unshielded twisted pair (UTP), that can carry up to to 10 Mbit/s with a bandwidth performance of 16 MHz.

Cat 4 - Cat 4 was mainly used in token ring networks and the cable consists of four unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) wires, with a data rate of 16 Mbit/s, and performance of up to 20 MHz.

Cat 5 - This is a a twisted pair high signal integrity cable, that has three twists per inch of each twisted pair of 24 gouge copper wires within the cables. Cat 5 is used for 10/100Mb Ethernet and as a voice cabling format.

Cat 5e - This category is an enhanced version of Cat 5, that prevents interference between one unshielded twisted pair to another twisted pair running in parallel within the same cable (Far End Crosstalk – FEXT). It works for 10/100Mb and 1000Mb Ethernet.

Cat 6 - It is very similar to Cat 5e and is a cable standard for Gigabyte Ethernet (considered better than Cat 5e) and other network protocols that are backward compatible with the Cat 5/5e and Cat 3 cable standards. Cat 6 is made up of larger gouge wires, that work for 10/100/1000Mb Ethernet.

Cat 7 - This cable type is a standard for Ethernet and other interconnect technologies, that are backward compatible with traditional Cat 5 and Cat 6 Ethernet cables. As it has more strict specifications for crosstalk and system noise than Cat 6 and Cat 5e, its cables and the wires within are completely shielded. the cable contains four twisted copper wire pairs and supports up to 600Mhz.

Ethernet Crossover Cable
An Ethernet crossover cable is a type of Ethernet cable, that is used to connect computing devices together, without the use of a hub or switch. These cables have different pin points or plugs on each side. The wires within the Ethernet crossover cable can reverse the transmit and receive signals. Starting from the left, the 1st and 3rd wires and the 2nd and 6th wires are crossed, and can be seen through the RJ-45 connectors at each end of the crossover cable.

Ethernet cable types should be determined by your requirement, as there are many types and categories easily available all across the country. Ethernet cables are faster and take less processing from the CPU and other computer networking devices, which can save a lot of time during the transmission of data