Trying to plug an Ethernet cable into your often-used devices but don’t know how to identify the Ethernet cable, here you are. Here are some examples of Ethernet cable specifications and related technical terms that you should know:
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Cable Categories: You may often see Ethernet cable printed with CAT on the jacket, and that’s the cable category. The most often used cable categories in the modern world are CAT5E, CAT6, CAT6A, and CAT8. CAT5E and CAT6 are often used for home or small office networks, while CAT6A and CAT8 cables are generally used for large business networks.
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Jacket Rating: The four main jacket ratings are CMP, CM, CMX, and CMR. Different jacket ratings are designed to protect the conductor from exterior influence. You should choose the correct jacket rating when installing the network through the wall or outdoors.
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Shielding Types: Ethernet cables can be classified into unshielded and shielded types. But do you know there are also different types of shielded network cables? Cable shielding can be divided into F/UTP, S/UTP, SF/UTP, F/FTP, S/FTP, and SF/FTP. In general, all CAT8 cables are shielded for stable and reliable data transmission.
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Conductor Material: Ethernet cables on the market are not always high-quality. Ethernet cable conductors are made of solid copper or copper-clad aluminum (CCA). CCA conductors are of poor quality and more suitable for short-distance network transmission.
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AWG: AWG is the wire gauge used in North America. It’s noted that the larger the AWG, the thinner the wire.
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Cable Bandwidth: Described in MHz. CAT5E’s bandwidth is 100 MHz, CAT6 is 250 MHz, CAT6A is 500 MHz, and CAT8 is 2000 MHz.
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PoE: PoE technology is widely used in IoT applications. The technology helps transmit data and power simultaneously so that you can use just one network cable.
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T568A/T568B: T568A and T568B are two common wiring standards for cable termination. One is no better than the other, but you should stick to this standard once you choose one.
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ANSI/TIA: If your Ethernet cable jacket is printed with ANSI/TIA, they are manufactured according to ANSI/TIA.
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Patch Cable: Patch cables are those network cables pre-terminated with connectors on both ends. They are usually used for short-distance data transmission.
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Crossover Cable: Crossover cable is terminated with T568A at one end and T568B at the other. This kind of cable was often used in the past.
