Posted: Wed May 21, 2025 11:11 Post subject: CAT-5 vs CAT-6 Cabling & Gigabit Speeds
So this question is somewhat a curiosity of mine and not based on any clear understanding of cable capacity or the standards that define them.
It has been posited that CAT-5 cable is rated up to 100 Mb transmission rate and conversely that CAT-6 is rated for 1 Gb transmission rate.
So first question is are the ratings limitations or just testing standards for certification of the cable type?
If you have 1 Gb service does that mean you would need a CAT-6 cable between your wifi router and the ISP modem?
I only have CAT-5 cable between any hardwired device on my network yet on some downloads I see rates of 15 to 20 MB B=8bits which translates to 120 Mb to 160 Mb a second rates. I have not done any official speed test to see what my ISP is delivering.
Well that's a start. _________________ ARCHER-C7v5 | v3.0-r61465 std | AP Gateway
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the most important is your router CPU as this is vital for WAN to LAN performance....
as well as the other announced ...type of cable and length plays role too...as well some cable loops and client compatibilities...play role too...
for example your Tp link Archer has a single core CPU, that can handle around 200Mbit without acceleration, with acceleration may handle a bit more, but it is a questionable performance that depends on many factors... _________________ Atheros
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Qualcomm-Atheros
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Dynalink DL-WRX36-DDWRT 61745
Broadcom
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NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
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Last edited by Alozaros on Wed May 21, 2025 17:23; edited 1 time in total
CAT 8.x uses RJ45 connectors again and should allow bandwidths up to 40Gbit in the future
and as already mentioned, there are different standards
ISO/IEC and EIA/TIA
ISO/IEC = International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission
EIA/TIA = Electronic Industries Alliance/Telecommunications Industry Association (USA)
it is generally said that ISO/IEC is stricter _________________ Quickstart guides:
Joined: 16 Nov 2015 Posts: 6901 Location: UK, London, just across the river..
Posted: Wed May 21, 2025 17:38 Post subject:
I made my house with cat 7 (flat SFTP) but terminated with RJ45 as they can be rj45 as well, but yes in general they are certified TERA, as they came out...in fact all cables after CAT 6 are thicker, stiffer and not that flexible for a home wrapping, i was lucky to find CAT7 flat options as a touch better...not that i needed it...but at the time it was a good option... now optics are way better...and way faster..
https://stl.tech/blog/what-are-cat7-cables/#2_RJ45_Cat7_cable _________________ Atheros
TP-Link WR740Nv1 ---DD-WRT 58184 WAP
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -DD-WRT 61848 Gateway/DoT,Forced DNS,Ad-Block,Firewall,x4VLAN,VPN
TP-Link WR1043NDv2 -Gargoyle OS 1.15.x AP,DNS,QoS,Quotas
Qualcomm-Atheros
Netgear XR500 --DD-WRT 61915 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Netgear R7800 --DD-WRT 61915 Gateway/DNSCryptv2,AD-Block,Forced DNS,AP&Net Isolation,x3VLAN,Firewall,Vanilla
Netgear R9000 --DD-WRT 61848 Gateway/DoT,AD-Block,AP Isolation,Firewall,Forced DNS,x2VLAN,Vanilla
Dynalink DL-WRX36-DDWRT 61745
Broadcom
Netgear R7000 --DD-WRT 61745 Gateway/DNScrypt-proxy2/AD-Block,IPset Firewall,Forced DNS,x4VLAN,VPN
NOT USING 5Ghz ANYWHERE
------------------------------------------------------
Stubby DNS over TLS I DNSCrypt v2 by mac913
Thanks for the comprehensive replies. This will aid in any future trouble shooting if the need be. _________________ ARCHER-C7v5 | v3.0-r61465 std | AP Gateway
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Joined: 08 May 2018 Posts: 16215 Location: Texas, USA
Posted: Wed May 21, 2025 21:45 Post subject:
ho1Aetoo wrote:
CAT 5 can also support 1Gbit depending on the cable quality and length
ho1Aetoo wrote:
I had a 25 year old 50m long CAT 5 cable lying around that didn't manage Gbit but only 100Mbit.
To clarify here, CAT 5 only does 1 Gbit/s link speed in patch cables AFAIK. I think the longest patch cable I remember linking at Gigabit was 15 feet, but I could be mistaken. It was about the time that I started implementing Gigabit Ethernet in my home network ~20-25 years ago.
I know that such cables are available.
The question is whether they are actually certified CAT 7 plugs or CAT 6A plugs.
There are no CAT 7 connectors at all from the well-known manufacturers.
As the manufacturers preferred to continue using RJ45 for 10Gbit, CAT 6A was subsequently specified.
Quote:
However, in 2006, Category 6A was ratified for Ethernet to allow 10 Gbit/s while still using the conventional 8P8C connector. Care is required to avoid signal degradation by mixing cable and connectors not designed for that use, however similar. Most manufacturers of active equipment and network cards have chosen to support the 8P8C for their 10 gigabit Ethernet products on copper and not GG45, ARJ45, or TERA connectors as Class F would have originally called for.[4] Therefore, the Category 6 specification was revised to Category 6A to permit this use; products therefore require a Class EA channel (ie, Cat 6A).
I have CAT 7 4x2xAWG26/7 (7 x 0.160 mm) copper flex cable (no rigid copper core but stranded wire)
But they only have CAT 6A plugs for the reasons mentioned above
