jamezzz122
Supreme [H]ardness
- Joined
- Jun 1, 2003
- Messages
- 4,539
Is there a comparison somewhere that shows the pros and cons of each? Is it worth upgrading to Cat6 patch cables?
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lomn75 said:Just speed. Cat5 is for 100Mbps, Cat5e is poor man's Cat6 (~500Mbps I think), Cat6 is for 1000Mbps.
miazmaticdotcom said:I don't get how a switch can tell the difference between Cat5 and Cat6. It's not like there are more wires, right?
valve1138 said:Cable is not rated in Mbps, it is rated in Mhz.
Cat5 is good for up to 1000Mbps or 1 Gbps transmission rates, that is if you are using all four pairs, per spec. Read the Gigabit over copper spec, it states clearly that minimum reuirements are 4 pairs of Cat 5
If your Cat 5 was run to spec, and installed properly it will have not problem with GigE equipment.
Why upgrade? Really just to future proof things.
Wolf-R1 said:I find your post about 95% correct.
Unfortunately because the original spec for CAT5 never had GigE in mind you may find strands of CAT5 that won't do GigE or will do GigE but with errors. That would be a quality control issue really.
I'm also just nitpicking but in reality there are CAT5 strands that you will run into that won't do GigE...you'll just have to test them and find out. Personally I've come across roughly 80% success rate for GigE and standard CAT5. Your results may vary.
valve1138 said:You may find Cat5e runs and Cat6 runs that won't lock up for GigE either.
valve1138 said:yep, and I wasn't clear in my other post, but my point was, when a cable is installed correctly it will work as intended. So a properly installed Cat 5 cable can be better than a half assedly installed Cat 5e or 6 cable.