Comparison Of Utp Cat6 Cable And Cat6a

CAT6

Compared with CAT5E cabling infrastructure, UTP CAT6 Cable cabling has many advantages and advantages. When CAT6 was first introduced, it was about 50% more expensive than CAT5E, which made it too expensive for many installations. However, over the years, the cost of CAT6 has been greatly reduced, and the cost is almost flat. CAT6 provides greater bandwidth than CAT5E and allows higher data transmission rates. Therefore, CAT6 has now become the minimum standard for new wiring installation. In addition to easily supporting 1 Gbps network speed, CAT6 can also support a higher data rate of 10Gbps. However, only 10Gbps is supported within a short distance of 37-55 meters.

CAT6A

CAT6A can support data transfer rates up to 10Gbps, with a maximum bandwidth of 500MHz. CAT6A has additional and tighter twists and has additional insulation to reduce crosstalk. CAT6A is also backward compatible with CAT6 and CAT5E, however, the speed is always limited, and will apply to the lowest category cable or connector installed in the link. CAT6A is quickly becoming the most cost-effective solution because it is seen as a cable system for the future. CAT6A components are used in the EA type network defined in ISO/IEC 11801 and TIA/EIA 568.

One of the obvious disadvantages of CAT6A is the actual size and weight of the cable. CAT6A was 50% larger when it first appeared in 2008. Since then, the cable size has shrunk and shrunk by 10%. The additional weight increase also reduces the number of cables that can be loaded into the cable tray and where they can be placed. This results in larger cable trays and conduits and smaller bundle sizes. Cable bending radii in cable trays, patch panels, and back wall sockets also require additional space.

Termination methods and time are also considered to be detrimental to CAT6A installation, but the new modular jacks and sockets that can be terminated in about 2-3 minutes reduce installation time and cost.