Category 6 is an Ethernet cabling standard defined by the Electronic Industries Association and Telecommunications Industry Association. Cat 6 is the sixth generation of twisted pair Ethernet cabling used in home and business networks. Cat 6 cabling is backward compatible with the Cat 5 and Cat 5e standards that preceded it.
Which Ethernet cable should I use? Cat5? Cat6? Cat7?
Category 6 cables support Gigabit Ethernet data rates of 1 gigabit per second. These cables can support 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections over a limited distance, typically about 180 feet for a single cable. Cat 6 cables contain four pairs of copper wire and use all pairs for signaling to achieve their high performance level.
Other basic facts about Cat 6 cables include:
The Category 6 Augmented cabling standard, or Cat 6a, was created to further improve the performance of Cat 6 Ethernet cables. Cat 6a allows for 10 Gigabit Ethernet data rates over a single cable run of up to 328 feet. Cat 6 only supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 164 feet of cable run. With the increased performance, Cat 6a cables are generally more expensive than Cat 6 and are slightly thicker. Cat 6a still uses standard RJ-45 connectors.
