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Category 6 cable (Cat 6) is a standardized
twisted pair
Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring used for communications in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility. Compared to a single conductor or an untwisted ba ...
cable for
Ethernet
Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...
and other network
physical layers that is
backward compatible
Backward compatibility (sometimes known as backwards compatibility) is a property of an operating system, product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with input designed for such a system, especially in ...
with the
Category 5/5e and
Category 3 cable standards.
Cat 6 must meet more stringent specifications for
crosstalk and system noise than Cat 5 and Cat 5e. The cable standard specifies performance of up to 250 MHz, compared to 100 MHz for Cat 5 and Cat 5e.
Whereas Category 6 cable has a reduced maximum length of when used for
10GBASE-T
10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE, 10GbE, or 10 GigE) is a group of computer networking technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of 10 gigabits per second. It was first defined by the IEEE 802.3ae-2002 standard. Unlike previous Et ...
, Category 6A cable is characterized to 500 MHz and has improved
alien crosstalk characteristics, allowing 10GBASE-T to be run for the same maximum distance as previous
Ethernet variants.
History
Cat 6, an
unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) design, emerged as an advancement of the UTP Cat 5e, and was formalised in 2001. The design of Cat 6 required more stringent precision in manufacturing, and this enabled reduced noise and crosstalk, allowing improved performance. The
Telecommunications Industry Association
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop voluntary, consensus-based industry standards for a wide variety of Information and Communication Technologies ( ICT) ...
(TIA) published Cat 6 in June 2002.
Description
Cat 6 cable can be identified by the printing on the side of the cable sheath. Cable types, connector types and cabling topologies are defined by
ANSI/TIA-568
ANSI/TIA-568 is a technical standard for commercial building cabling for telecommunications products and services. The title of the standard is ''Commercial Building Telecommunications Cabling Standard'' and is published by the Telecommunication ...
.
Cat 6 patch cables are normally terminated in
8P8C modular connectors, using either
T568A or T568B pin assignments; performance is comparable provided both ends of a cable are terminated identically.
If Cat 6-rated patch cables, jacks and connectors are not used with Cat 6 wiring, overall performance is degraded and may not meet Cat 6 performance specifications.
The Cat 6 specification requires conductors to be pure copper. The industry has seen a rise in non-compliant or counterfeit cables, especially of the
copper-clad aluminium wire
Copper-clad aluminium wire (CCAW or CCA) is a dual metal electrical conductor composed of an inner aluminium core and outer copper cladding.
Uses
The primary applications of this conductor revolve around weight reduction requirements. These ap ...
(CCA) variety. This has exposed the manufacturers or installers of such fake cable to legal liabilities.
Category 6A
The standard for Category 6A (augmented Category 6) is ANSI/TIA-568.2-D (replaces 568-C.2), defined by TIA for enhanced performance standards for twisted pair cable systems. It was defined in 2018. Cat 6A performance is defined for frequencies up to 500 MHz—twice that of Cat 6. Cat 6A also has an improved alien crosstalk specification as compared to Cat 6, which picks up high levels of alien noise at high frequencies.
The global cabling standard
ISO/IEC 11801
International standard ISO/IEC 11801 ''Information technology — Generic cabling for customer premises'' specifies general-purpose telecommunication cabling systems (structured cabling) that are suitable for a wide range of applications (analog an ...
has been extended by the addition of amendment 2. This amendment defines new specifications for Cat 6A components and Class E
A permanent links. These new global Cat 6A/Class E
A specifications require a new generation of connecting hardware offering far superior performance compared to the existing products that are based on the American TIA standard.
The most important point is a performance difference between ISO/IEC and EIA/TIA component specifications for the NEXT transmission parameter. At a frequency of 500 MHz, an ISO/IEC Cat 6A connector performs 3 dB better than a Cat 6A connector that conforms with the EIA/TIA specification (3 dB equals 50% reduction of near-end crosstalk noise signal power; see
half-power point
The half-power point is the point at which the output power has dropped to half of its peak value; that is, at a level of approximately -3 dB.
In filters, optical filters, and electronic amplifiers, the half-power point is also known as hal ...
).
Confusion therefore arises because of the naming conventions and performance benchmarks laid down by the International ISO/IEC and American TIA/EIA standards, which in turn are different from the regional European standard, EN 50173-1. In broad terms, the ISO standard for Cat 6A is the most stringent, followed by the European standard, and then the American (1 on 1 matching capability).
Category 6e and beyond
After the ratification of Cat 6, manufacturers began offering cables labeled as . The intent was to market ''Cat 6e'' as a pseudo official upgrade to the Category 6 standard naming it after the Category 5e standard. Officially Cat 6e is not a recognized ISO standard.
Category 7 is an ISO standard, but not a TIA standard; it is a shielded cable with newer connectors (
GG45
GG45 (GigaGate 45) and ARJ45 (Augmented RJ45) are two related connectors for Category 7, Category 7A, and Category 8 telecommunication cabling. The GG45 interface and related implementations are developed and sold by Nexans S.A., while the ...
or
TERA
TERA is a shielded twisted pair connector for use with Category 7 twisted-pair data cables, developed by The Siemon Company and standardised in 2003 by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) with the reference IEC 61076-3-104.
Th ...
) that are not backward-compatible with category 3 through 6A.
Category 8 is the next network cabling offering to be backward compatible.
Maximum length
When used for
10/100/1000BASE-T, the maximum allowed length of a Cat 6 cable is . This consists of of solid ''horizontal'' cabling between the patch panel and the wall jack, plus of stranded patch cable between each jack and the attached device. For
10GBASE-T
10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GE, 10GbE, or 10 GigE) is a group of computer networking technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of 10 gigabits per second. It was first defined by the IEEE 802.3ae-2002 standard. Unlike previous Et ...
, an unshielded Cat 6 cable should not exceed 55 meters and a Cat 6A cable should not exceed 100 meters.
Installation requirements
Category 6 and 6A cable must be properly installed and terminated to meet specifications. The cable must not be kinked or bent too tightly; the bend radius should be larger than four times the outer diameter of the cable.
The wire pairs must not be untwisted and the outer jacket must not be stripped back more than .
Cable shielding may be required in order to avoid data corruption in high
electromagnetic interference (EMI) environments. Shielding is typically maintained from one cable end to the other using a drain wire that runs through the cable alongside the twisted pairs. The shield's electrical connection to the chassis on each end is made through the jacks. The requirement for ground connections at both cable ends creates the possibility of creating a
ground loop. This undesirable situation may compel currents to flow in the network cable shield and these currents may in turn induce detrimental noise in the signal being carried by the cable.
References
External links
* Information on cable construction and alien crosstalk mitigation.
* Information on TIA TSB-155 37m versus
IEEE
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operat ...
55m limitations.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Category 6 Cable
Ethernet cables