How To Identify Control Cable Wire's Cat 6 And Cat 6a Cables

How to Identify Control Cable Wire's CAT 6 and CAT 6A Cables

The primary identifiers for CAT6 and CAT6A cables are printed on the cable jacket - Category 6 or Category 6a, respectively.

In terms of physical properties, keep in mind that CAT6A cables are thicker and bulkier than CAT6 cables. This is often considered a disadvantage of CAT6A cables, as their larger size and weight reduces the number of cables that can fit into the tray and the size of the bundle.

Difference Between CAT 6 and CAT 6A

The mention of a common RJ45 connector in CAT6 and CAT6A cables brings us to an interesting question - are there more similarities between CAT6 and CAT6A cables? Yes, you can notice below:

Both have eight copper conductors twisted into four pairs.

Both support up to 1000 Mbps.

Both can be masked or unmasked.

Both end with the TIA 568A or B color code specification.

Both have jackets based on installation use cases.

As you can see, CAT6 and CAT6A can therefore be considered siblings. But many key differences see CAT6A cable as an upgrade.

1. Speed: As we have read before, both CAT6 and CAT6A cables can reach 10 Gbps. However, the speed of CAT6A cables can last for distances of up to 100 m. This is a major upgrade over CAT6 cables, which can only relay 10 Gbps speeds up to 33-55 m. The 55 m distance is fine for Gigabit Ethernet but drops to 33 m in high crosstalk conditions.

2. Materials used: Since CAT6A cables are thicker and bulkier than CAT6, they require thicker copper conductors and jackets. Also, CAT6A cables are twisted more tightly than CAT6 cables. This has increased their requirements for higher-specification wall jackets, patch panels, and RJ45 connectors. At this point, if you thought CAT6A cable should be more difficult and expensive to install, you'd be right.

3. Durability: In terms of durability, yes, CAT6A cables are bulkier, making them a more durable solution. Internally, however, all ethernet cables are a bit flimsy. This affects their flexibility, as any bending above recommended values ​​will damage the cable and reduce the quality of performance. Naturally, CAT6A cables have a larger bend radius than CAT6 cables, so they are less flexible.

4. Bandwidth: We have read that the speed of both cables is theoretically the same, i.e. up to 10 Gbps over a distance. However, bandwidth frequencies are where CAT6A cables represent a major upgrade. CAT6A cable has twice the bandwidth frequency of CAT6, which can transmit data at 500 MHz.