When Should Cat5e Cable Be Used, Where And What Type To Use

When should CAT5E Cable be used, where and what type to use?

Which should be used and where?

This is a tricky one because both are used in many of the same applications. I suggest there are some general guidelines to help you decide:

Choose Cat5e if the price is the most important consideration and you don't plan to require Ethernet speeds beyond 2.5GBASE-T

If you're willing to spend a little more, the Cat6 will be a better choice for future growth and versatility

Cat6 cables are a better choice for Power over Ethernet (PoE) because thicker copper conductors dissipate heat better. This benefit really shows up in higher

power PoE applications and bundled cables...especially in conduit. Please review Power over Ethernet (PoE) Installation Best Practices to learn more about PoE and best practices.

That said, Cat5e is generally a lighter, thinner cable and may be the first choice for some applications due to its ease of installation in tight places. Cat5e is also generally easier to terminate.

When should I use the shielded CAT5e cable?

If you want to ensure maximum speed and efficiency from your network under any circumstances, you may want to use a shielded CAT5e cable. It's hard to know when and where you'll have enough EMI to cause a problem, but if you're using a shielded CAT5e cable in the first place, you won't have to worry about ripping the cable out of the wall to replace it with that problem.

Making sure your network is up and running is especially important in your business or office building, but it's just as important for your home network.

What type of shielded CAT5e cable should I use?

Shielded CAT5e cable is commonly referred to as STP CAT5e or Shielded Twisted Pair CAT5e. However, the term is used to refer to many different styles of shielding. The most common type of shielding uses so-called screens. This screen is a metal covering that surrounds the entire set of 8 wires in the CAT5e cable. This can be done with a single solid foil wrapped around the wires, braided cable strands wrapped around all the wires, or a combination of the two.

If you want to make sure your network is up and running, we recommend that you use STP cables like this for all in-wall cables and other critical cables. This way, you can rest easy knowing you're getting the fastest speed possible from the network.