What is the difference between CAT5 and CAT5e

What is the difference between CAT5 and CAT5e

What is CAT5e Cable?

Category 5e, also known as Enhanced Category 5, or CAT5e, is a network cable standard ratified in 1999.

What is CAT5e Cable Used for?

CAT5e is an incremental improvement to CAT5 cable designed to support full-duplex Fast Ethernet operation and Gigabit Ethernet. 

Looking for CAT5e patch cables or bulk CAT5e cables? Black Box offers a wide range of CAT5e cables to fit your application.

How Much Data Can CAT5e Carry?

CAT5e is a 100-MHz standard, though cables are available with up to 350-MHz capabilities. You can expect problem-free, full-duplex, 4-pair Ethernet transmissions over your CAT5e UTP.

CAT5e Max Length

The maximum distance you can run CAT5e is 100 meters, or 320 feet. If you need longer runs, active components such as routers or extenders can be used.

What is CAT5 cable?

The previous standard, Category 5 (CAT5), was ratified in 1991. CAT5 cabling is good, solid cable for 100-Mbps LANs. 

What is CAT5 Cable Used For?

You’ll find existing CAT5 installations everywhere. It is commonly used to carry telephone or video signals in addition to Ethernet.

CAT Speed: How Fast Is CAT5 Cable?

If you have a lot of 10-Mbps equipment, CAT5 cabling will serve your needs. It also handles 100-Mbps Fast Ethernet transmissions very well.

CAT5 Max Length

The maximum distance you can run CAT5 is 100 meters, the same as CAT5e. If you need longer runs, active components such as routers or extenders can be used provided they are CAT5 compatible.

CAT5 vs CAT5e - Which One to Choose?

The main differences between CAT5 and CAT5e can be found in the specifications. The performance requirements have been raised slightly in the new standard. CAT5e has stricter specifications for Power Sum Equal-Level Far-End Crosstalk (PS-ELFEXT), Near-End Crosstalk (NEXT), Attenuation, and Return Loss (RL) than those for CAT5.

CAT5e has the capacity to handle bandwidth superior to that of CAT5. If you’re running up against the performance limits of a 100-Mbps network, you’ll probably want to upgrade at least parts of your system to CAT5e or higher. CAT5e is backwards compatible and can be used in any application that would typically use CAT5.

Use the Black Box Cable Selector to find the right CATx cable for your application.