RJ 45 cable vs cat 6? - Page 2

Just the same, there won't be any differences in speed.

Here is the three(3) different types of twisted-pair copper cable used to transmit data in network and also used to connect with the RJ-45 connector....

CAT5: Out of the three types of cable we’ll be discussing, Category 5 is the most basic. Cat 5 cable is available in two varieties: Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP), the type widely used in the United States, and Screened Twisted Pair (SCTP), which has shielding to provide a measure of extra protection against interference, but is rarely used outside of Europe. Cables belonging to Category 5 are either solid or stranded: Solid Cat 5 is more rigid, and the better choice if data needs to be transmitted over a long distance, while Stranded Cat 5 is very flexible and most likely to be used as patch cable. Cat 5 cable can support 10 or 100 Mbps Ethernet, and has a capability of up to 100MHz.

CAT5e: Cat 5e (which stands for Category 5, enhanced) cable goes along the same lines as basic Cat 5, except that it fulfills higher standards of data transmission. While Cat 5 is common in existing cabling systems, Category 5e has almost entirely replaced it in new installations. Cat 5e can handle data transfer at 1000 Mbps, is suitable for Gigabit Ethernet, and experiences much lower levels of near-end crosstalk (NEXT) than Cat 5.

CAT6: Of the three cable categories we’re discussing, Category 6 is the most advanced and provides the best performance. Just like Cat 5 and Cat 5e, Category 6 cable is typically made up of four twisted pairs of copper wire, but its capabilities far exceed those of other cable types because of one particular structural difference: a longitudinal separator. This separator isolates each of the four pairs of twisted wire from the others, which reduces crosstalk, allows for faster data transfer, and gives Category 6 cable twice the bandwidth of Cat 5! Cat 6 cable is ideal for supporting 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and is able to operate at up to 250 MHz. Since technology and standards are constantly evolving, Cat 6 is the wisest choice of cable when taking any possible future updates to your network into consideration. Not only is Category 6 cable future-safe, it is also backward-compatible with any previously-existing Cat 5 and Cat 5e cabling found in older installations.

There will be a minimal difference between the two, I swear the CAT6 uses shielding.. I must be getting mixed up between Audio cables because I haven't actually studied networking in a while.. and I've been recently studying lots about Audio because of exams... That is no real excuse though, I did think that CAT6 was shielded at least..

My IT teacher (The smarter one) told me that CAT5e is not as good as CAT6 because it can't keep sustained speeds, and while on paper both will do 1GBit (it might have been 10?) but CAT6 will hold it's speed up.

And yes, I also do remember now that it is a UTP shielding.

No there wont. Not even slightly. Cat5e's bandwidth is more than capable for both fast ethernet and gigabit.

The notion you're trying to sell is akin to the "monster HDMI" cables that are sold at ~£50 to non-technical consumers on the premiss that gold plating (et al) some how makes a standardised hi-def digital stream better quality. The fact is, even cheap HDMI cables have the bandwidth to carry HD streams as that's the bandwidth they're tested against; and the same is true with cat5e vs cat6 for gigabit ethernet.
Some audio cables don't use shielding in favour of using a balancer (some XLR cables do just this). Which is the same principle that networking cables use.

That all said, You can buy shielded cat6 cables, but they're a manufacturer design and not part of the official standard. For most purposes, having a balanced twisted pair is good enough; and if electrical interference is really going to be that much of an issue, then you should be running fibre instead.
That would be 10GbE.
Cat5e will do gigabit over short distances (max 10m IIRC) if your cat5e cable is well constructed however your NICs will likely downgrade the speeds automatically. Cat6 is tested against such bandwidth. Both cat5e and cat6 will carry gigabit UTP stands for "Unshielded twisted pair" - so I'm not sure where you found those "shielded unshielded" cables from.
Edited by Plan9 - 11/12/12 at 3:55am

I know it stands for Unshielded Twisted Pair.. Like I said I've been studying for Audio heaps lately and looking at Balanced and Unbalanced XLR cables etc, I haven't studied networking in so long simply because I enjoyed the subject and finished it so early on.. I've been mainly focusing on Audio as my exam counts towards 50% of my mark. I know that sounds like a lame excuse but yeah, again I was told that Cat5e was fine but CAT6 holds it's speed (at least over distance is what you're claiming). I know about the HDMI cable scams and the most expensive cable I've personally purchased was $7 for a 1.6m one.

It must have been 10 Gigabit that my teacher was talking about then, or just the sustainability over distance. She never explained why/how, she just said it keeps up to speed better then Cat5e. And yes I agree with you on the fibre statement, I have seen shielded ethernet cables however too which yes is rather strange but it does exist.