When loooking for a multiple conductor cable, you will find many different types - CAT5, CAT5e, CAT6 and etc. So how do you choose one suitable for your design?
In general, CAT5 cable can support up to 100Mbps. CAT5e cable is an enhanced version of CAT5 and transmits data up to 1000Mbps. CAT6 cable can transmit at a faster speed (up to 10Gbps) and provides lower crosstalk and better signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).
Below is a general comparsion for reference.
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CAT5 cable
Data rate: Up to 100Mbps
Frequency: Up to 100MHz
Crosstalk performance: Potential risk in crosstalk
Network application: 10Base-T, 100Base-T -
CAT5e cable
Enhanced version of CAT5 cable
Data rate: Up to 1000Mbps
Frequency: Up to 100MHz
Crosstalk performance: Less crosstalk than CAT5
Network application: 1000Base-T -
CAT6 cable
Data rate: Up to 10Gbps
Frequency: Up to 250MHz
Crosstalk performance: Better SNR
Network application: 10GBASE-T