What is the difference between Ethernet network cables from Category 1 to Category 8 cables?

Category 1 wire: mainly used for voice transmission (Category 1 standard was mainly used for telephone cables before the early 1980s), unlike data transmission.

Category II cable: transmission frequency of 1MHZ, used for voice transmission and data transmission at a maximum transmission rate of 4Mbps, commonly used in older token networks using the 4MBPS specification token passing protocol.

Category 3 wire: cable specified in ANSI and EIA/TIA568 standards, the transmission frequency of this cable is 16MHz, used for voice transmission and data transmission at a maximum transmission rate of 10Mbps, mainly for 10BASE--T.

Category IV cable: The transmission frequency of this type of cable is 20MHz, which is used for voice transmission and data transmission with a maximum transmission rate of 16Mbps, mainly for token-based LAN and 10BASE-T/100BASE-T.

Category 5: This type of cable has increased winding density, a high quality insulation material in the jacket, a transmission rate of 100MHz, and is used for voice transmission and data transmission at a maximum transmission rate of 100Mbps, mainly for 100BASE-T and 10BASE-T networks. This is the most commonly used Ethernet cable.

Super Category 5: Super Category 5 has low attenuation, less crosstalk, and has a higher attenuation to crosstalk ratio (ACR) and signal to noise ratio (StructuralReturn Loss), smaller time delay, and much improved performance. Super Category 5 cables are mainly used for 100 Gigabit/Gigabit Ethernet (1000Mbps).

Category 6 cable: The transmission frequency of this type of cable is 1MHz to 250MHz. Category 6 cabling system should have a larger margin of integrated attenuation crosstalk ratio (PS-ACR) at 200MHz, which provides 2 times the bandwidth of Super Category 5. The transmission performance of Category 6 cabling is much higher than the Super Category 5 standard and is most suitable for applications with transmission rates higher than 1 Gbps.

An important difference between Category 6 and Super 5 is the improved performance in terms of crosstalk and return loss, which is extremely important for the new generation of full-duplex, high-speed network applications. The Category 6 standard eliminates the basic link model, the cabling standard uses a star topology, and the required cabling distance is: the length of the permanent link cannot exceed 90m, and the channel length cannot exceed 100m.

Super Category 6: Super Category 6 cabling can still operate normally above 40°C for high-performance cabling systems with frequencies up to 300MHz bandwidth, and can still reach the performance index of 20°C specified in the Category 6 standard at 50°C. To distinguish it from ordinary Category 6 cabling systems, this kind of cabling with bandwidth performance far exceeding Category 6 is called Super Category 6. It supports 10 Gigabit Internet access (10 Gbps) data.

Category 7 wire: This wire is the latest type of twisted pair in the ISO Category 7 / Class F standard, and it is mainly designed to accommodate the application and development of 10 Gigabit Ethernet technology. However, it is no longer an unshielded twisted pair, but a shielded twisted pair, so it can transmit at least 500 MHz, which is more than twice the transmission rate of a Category 6 line, and the transmission rate can reach 10 Gbps.

Category 8 network cable: is the latest generation of network cable, the same as the seven types of network cable is double shielded (SFTP), it has two pairs of wires, 2000MHz ultra-high widescreen, can support 25 Gbps and 40 Gbps network cabling, but its maximum transmission distance is only 30m, so it is generally used for short distance data center servers, switches, patch panels and other equipment connections.

In the ISO / IEC-11801 standard, Cat8 Category 8 cable is divided into Category I and Category II according to the channel level, where Category I Cat8 Category 8 cable shielding type is U/FTP and F/UTP, which is backward compatible with Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a RJ45 connector interface; Category II Cat8 Category 8 cable shielding type is F/FTP or S/FTP, which is backward compatible with TERA. FTP, backward compatible with TERA or GG45 connector interface.

Twisted pair cable can be divided into unshielded twisted pair cable (UTP = UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR) and shielded twisted pair cable (STP = SHIELDED TWISTED PAIR).

The outer layer of shielded twisted pair cable is wrapped by aluminum platinum to reduce radiation, but it does not completely eliminate radiation. Shielded twisted pair cable is relatively expensive and more difficult to install than unshielded twisted pair cable.

Unshielded twisted pair cable has the following advantages: no shielding jacket, small diameter, saving the space occupied; light weight, easy to bend, easy to install; near-end crosstalk is minimized or eliminated; with flame retardant; with independence and flexibility, suitable for structured integrated wiring.