Category Archives: Cabling Solutions

Things You Should Know About Ribbon Optical Cable

Local area network (LAN) campus and building backbones, as well as data center backbones, are migrating to higher cabled fiber counts to meet increasing system bandwidth needs. Ribbon optical cables are now being deployed to meet this need, as they provide the highest fiber density relative to cable size, maximize utilization of pathway and spaces and facilitate ease of termination. This article may provide some knowledge of ribbon optical cable.

Ribbon Optical Cable Design

Ribbon optical cable is now being widely used in campus, building and data center backbone applications where fiber counts of more than 24 are required. This kind of fiber optic cable offers robust performance equivalent to the stranded loose tube cable. It provides the maximum fiber density relative to cable diameter when compared to stranded loose tube and tight-buffered cable designs. The cable design characteristically consists of 12 to 216 fibers organized inside a central tube. There are two kinds of jacket material for ribbon optical cable. Non-flame-retardant jacket material is often used in outdoor applications while flame-retardant outer jackets are used for indoor applications. Picture below shows a basic construction of ribbon optical cable.

Ribbon Optical Cable

MTP Connector Makes a Easy Ribbon Optical Cable Termination

For many years, people have been reluctant to use ribbon optical cable in the LAN and data center because 12-fiber ribbon fiber optic cable field terminations were limited. With the introduction of field-installable 12-fiber array connectors, 12-fiber ribbons are easily terminated with simplex and duplex connectors such as LC or SC connectors or with the MTP connector. The MTP connector (shown in the picture below) is a 12-fiber push/pull optical connector with a foot-print similar to the SC simplex connector. These high-density connectors are used to significantly accelerate the network cabling process, minimize errors and reduce congestion in patch panels.

Today, the MTP connector is commonly available in preterminated form—as a pigtail to be spliced onto a 12-fiber ribbon, or as a MTP patch cord which is terminated on each end (shown in the picture below). Many end-users are now using preterminated cables where the cable is factory terminated with MTP connectors and/or simplex or duplex connectors to ensure the highest quality connector insertion loss and return loss performance and to expedite the cable installation.

MTP patch cord

Ribbon Optical Cable Greatly Saves the Pathway and Spaces

Optimal cabled fiber density in data-center pathway and spaces is important to facilitate efficient cooling systems as well as for removal of abandoned cable in accordance, so it’s essential to maximize use of pathway and spaces. Ribbon fiber cables offer up to 45 percent space savings, and three times the fiber-tray capacity over traditional bulkier cable solutions. At the same time, it also minimizes the cable tray weight.

Conclusion

Because the ribbon optical cable offers the highest fiber packing density to maximize pathway and space utilization in ducts and raceways as well as patch panels, it is now being deployed in areas where stranded loose tube and tight-buffered cable have historically been used. Fiberstore provide all kinds of ribbon optical cables (12 to 216 ﬁbers) and MTP connectors, as well as MTP truck patch cables with low price and high quality. For more information, please visit www.fs.com.

What’s the Difference Between UPC and APC Connector?

We usually hear about descriptions like “LC/UPC multimode duplex fiber optic patch cable”, or “ST/APC single-mode simplex fiber optic jumper”. What do these words UPC and APC connector mean? What’s the difference between them? This article may give some explanations to you.

What’s the Meaning of UPC and APC?

As we know, fiber optic cable assemblies are mainly with connectors and cables, so the fiber cable assembly name is related to the connector name. We call a cable LC fiber patch cable, because this cable is with LC fiber optic connector. Here the words UPC and APC are related only to the fiber optic connectors and have nothing to do with fiber optic cables.

Whenever a connector is installed on the end of fiber, loss is incurred. Some of this light loss is reflected directly back down the fiber towards the light source that generated it. These back reflections will damage the laser light sources and also disrupt the transmitted signal. To reduce back reflections, we can polish connector ferrules to different finishes. There are four types of connector ferrule polishing style in all. UPC and APC are two types of them. Among UPC stands for Ultra Physical Contact and APC is short for Angled Physical Contact.

Differences Between UPC and APC Connector

The main difference between UPC and APC connector is the fiber end face. UPC connectors are polished with no angle, but APC connectors feature a fiber end face that is polished at an 8-degree angle. With UPC connectors, any reflected light is reflected straight back towards the light source. However, the angled end face of the APC connector causes reflected light to reflect at an angle into the cladding versus straight back toward the source. This causes some differences in return loss. Therefore, UPC connector is usually required to have at least -50dB return loss or higher, while APC connector return loss should be -60dB or higher. In general, the higher the return loss the better the performance of the mating of two connectors. Besides the fiber end face, another more obvious difference is the color. Generally, UPC connectors are blue while APC connectors are green. The following figure picture shows the differences mentioned above intuitively.

UPC and APC Connector

Application Considerations of UPC and APC Connectors

There is no doubt that the optical performance of APC connectors is better than UPC connectors. In the current market, the APC connectors are widely used in applications such as FTTx, passive optical network (PON) and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) that are more sensitive to return loss. But besides optical performance, the cost and simplicity also should be taken into consideration. So it’s hard to say that one connector beats the other. In fact, whether you choose UPC or APC will depend on your particular need. With those applications that call for high precision optical fiber signaling, APC should be the first consideration, but less sensitive digital systems will perform equally well using UPC.

Fiberstore offers a variety of high speed fiber optic patch cables with LC, SC, ST, FC etc. connectors (UPC and APC polish). For more information about UPC and APC fiber optic connectors, please visit fs.com.

Related Article: LC Fiber Connector, Adapter and Cable Assemblies

Do You Know About Mode Conditioning Patch Cord?

The great demand for increased bandwidth has prompted the release of the 802.3z standard (IEEE) for Gigabit Ethernet over optical fiber. As we all know, 1000BASE-LX transceiver modules can only operate on single-mode fibers. However, this may pose a problem if an existing fiber network utilizes multimode fibers. When a single-mode fiber is launched into a multimode fiber, a phenomenon known as Differential Mode Delay (DMD) will appear. This effect can cause multiple signals to be generated which may confuse the receiver and produce errors. To solve this problem, a mode conditioning patch cord is needed. In this article, some knowledge of mode conditioning patch cords will be introduced.

What Is a Mode Conditioning Patch Cord?

A mode conditioning patch cord is a duplex multimode cord that has a small length of single-mode fiber at the start of the transmission length. The basic principle behind the cord is that you launch your laser into the small section of single-mode fiber, then the other end of the single-mode fiber is coupled to multimode section of the cable with the core offset from the center of the multimode fiber (see diagram below).

This offset point creates a launch that is similar to typical multimode LED launches. By using an offset between the single-mode fiber and the multimode fiber, mode conditioning patch cords eliminate DMD and the resulting multiple signals allowing use of 1000BASE-LX over existing multimode fiber cable systems. Therefore, these mode conditioning patch cords allow customers an upgrade of their hardware technology without the costly upgrade of their fiber plant.

Some Tips When Using Mode Conditioning Patch Cord

After learning about some knowledge of mode conditioning patch cords, but do you know how to use it? Then some tips when using mode conditioning cables will be presented.

Mode conditioning patch cords are usually used in pairs. Which means that you will need a mode conditioning patch cord at each end to connect the equipment to the cable plant. So these patch cords are usually ordered in numbers. You may see someone only order one patch cord, then it is usually because they keep it as a spare.
If your 1000BASE-LX transceiver module is equipped with SC or LC connectors, please be sure to connect the yellow leg (single-mode) of the cable to the transmit side, and the orange leg (multimode) to the receive side of the equipment. The swap of transmit and receive can only be done at the cable plant side. See diagram below.

Mode conditioning patch cords can only convert single-mode to multimode. If you want to convert multimode to single-mode, then a media converter will be required.

Besides, mode conditioning patch cables are used in the 1300nm or 1310nm optical wavelength window, and should not be used for 850nm short wavelength window such as 1000Base-SX.

Conclusion

From the text, we know that mode conditioning patch cords really significantly improve the data signal quality and increase the transmission distance. But when using it, there are also some tips must be kept in mind. Fiberstore offer mode conditioning patch cords in all varieties and combinations of SC, ST, MT-RJ and LC fiber optic connectors. All of the Fiberstore’s mode conditioning patch cords are at high quality and low price. For more information, please visit fs.com.

Loose Tube or Tight Buffered Fiber Optic Cable?

Fiber optic cable is available in many physical variations, such as single and multiple conductor constructions, aerial and direct burial styles, plenum and riser cables, etc. But there are two basic styles of fiber optic cable construction: loose tube fiber and tight buffered fiber. From the picture below, we can see that loose tube fiber holds more than one optical fiber, each individually sleeved core is bundled loosely within an all-encompassing outer jacket. However, in tight buffered cables, there are not so many cables as loose tube fibers.

Loose Tube Fiber

Loose tube fibers are designed for harsh environmental conditions in the outdoors. In loose tube cables, the coated fiber “floats” within a rugged, abrasion resistant, oversized tube which is filled with optical gel. Since the tube does not have direct contact with the fiber, any cable material expansion or contraction will not cause stress on the fiber. This gel also helps protect the fibers from moisture, making the cables ideal for high humidity environments. Cable containing loose buffer-tube fiber is generally very tolerant of axial forces of the type encountered when pulling through conduits or where constant mechanical stress is present such as cables employed for aerial use. Since the fiber is not under any significant strain, loose buffer-tube cables exhibit low optical attenuation losses. Although loose-tube gel-filled fiber optic cables are used for high-fiber-count, long-distance telco applications, they are an inferior design for the Local Area Network applications where reliability, attenuation stability over a wide temperature range and low installed cost are the priorities.

Tight Buffered Cable

Tight buffered cables, in contrast, are optimized for indoor applications. In the tight buffer construction, instead of using the gel layer loose tube cable has, it uses a two-layer coating. One is plastic and the other is waterproof acrylate. So tight buffered cables may be easier to install, because there is no gel to clean up and it does not require a fan out kit for splicing or termination. Because the fiber is not free to “float” however, tensile strength is not as great. Tight buffer cable is normally lighter in weight and more flexible than loose-tube cable and is usually employed for less severe applications. Such applications include moderate distance transmission for telco local loop, LAN, SAN, and point-to-point links in cities, buildings, factories, office parks and on campuses. Tight-buffered cables offer the flexibility, direct connectability and design versatility necessary to satisfy the diverse requirements existing in high performance fiber optic applications.

Each construction has inherent advantages. The loose buffer tube offers lower cable attenuation from microbending in any given fiber, plus a high level of isolation from external forces. Under continuous mechanical stress, the loose tube permits more stable transmission characteristics. The tight buffer construction permits smaller, lighter weight designs for similar fiber configuration, and generally yields a more flexible, crush resistant cable. So, you should choose the appropriate cable for your applications. Fiberstore offers both loose tube and tight buffer cables with high quality and low price. It may be your optimal choice to buy optic products.

Tight-Buffered Distribution Cable Basis

Tight-Buffered Cable vs. Loose-Tube Gel-Filled Cable

Difference Between OS1 and OS2 Single Mode Fiber Cable

As we all know, multimode fiber is usually divided into OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4. Then how about single mode fiber cable? In general, single mode fiber cable is categorized into OS1 and OS2 fiber. OS1 and OS2 are cabled single mode optical fiber specifications. In fact, there are many differences between OS1 vs OS2 single mode fiber. This text will make a comparison between OS1 vs OS2 and then give you a guide on how to choose the right fiber optic cable for your applications.

OS1 single mode fibers are compliant with ITU-T G.652A or ITU-T G.652B standards. Besides, the low-water-peak fibers defined by ITU-T G.652C and G.652D also come under OS1 single mode fibers. That is to say, OS1 is compliant with specifications of ITU-T G.652. However, OS2 single mode fibers are only compliant with ITU-T G.652C or ITU-T G.652D standards, which means OS2 is explicitly applied to the low-water-peak fibers. These low-water-peak fibers are usually used for CWDM (Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing) applications.

Besides the standards, the main difference between OS1 and OS2 single mode fiber is the cable construction. Typically, OS1 cabling is tight-buffered construction, which is usually used for indoor applications, such as campus or data center. Yet OS2 cabling is loose-tube design. Cable with this construction is appropriate for outdoor cases like street, underground and burial. For this reason, OS1 indoor fiber has greater loss per kilometer than OS2 outdoor fiber. In general, the maximum attenuation for OS1 is 1.0 db/km and for OS2 is 0.4db/km. As a result, the maximum transmission distance of OS1 single mode fiber is 2 km but the maximum transmission distance of OS2 single mode fiber can reach 5 km and is up to 10 km. Then for all these reasons, OS1 is much cheaper than OS2. There is point need to pay attention to is that both OS1 and OS2 single mode fibers over their distance will allow speeds of 1 to 10 gigabit Ethernet. All of these differences between OS1 and OS2 discussed above are listed in the table below. You can get a clear understanding from it.

Name	OS1	OS2
Standards	ITU-T G.652A/B/C/D	ITU-T G.652C/D
Construction	Tight buffered	Loose tube
Application	Indoor	Outdoor
Attenuation	1.0db/km	0.4db/km
Distance	2 km	10 km
Price	Low	High

Learning about the differences between OS1 vs OS2 single mode fiber cable, then which cable should you choose? First, if you want to use for the indoor application, OS1 is better for you. However, if used for outdoor application, you should choose OS2. Second, there is no benefit to be gained in using OS2 cable if under 2 km. OS2 is best for distance over 2 km. Finally, you should note that OS1 is much cheaper than OS2. In order to save cost, if the OS1 is enough for your application there is no need to use OS2. Fiberstore offers OS1 and OS2 single mode fiber cable as well as all kinds of multimode fiber cable. It is your optimal selection.

Related Articles:

What are OM1, OM2, OM3 and OM4 multimode fiber?
Single Mode Fiber: How Much Do You Know?
What Kind of Single-mode Fiber Should You Choose?

Cat6 vs Fiber: What Is the Difference?

In recent years, Cat6 data cabling has become more and more popular for Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) networks. Recently, however, fiber optic cabling has become another popular way for businesses to maintain communications. So, as for Cat6 vs Fiber, which of these is best for your company? This article will show you how each works and what makes them different from one another.

Cat6 vs Fiber: What is Cat6 Cabling?

Category 6 cabling (often shortened to cat-6 or cat6) is a type of data cabling that is standard for Gigabit Ethernet and several other network protocols which are not compatible with cat3 cables. As the sixth generation Ethernet cables formed from twisted pairs of copper wiring, cat6 is composed of four pairs of wires, similar to cat5 cables. The primary difference between the two, though, is that cable cat6 makes full use of all four pairs. This is why cat6 cable can support communications at more than twice the speed of Cat5e patch panel, allowing for Gigabit Ethernet speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second.

It is cat6’s speed that has made it such a great choice for VoIP telephony, but there are some setbacks. For starters, there are length restrictions in using this type of data cabling. When used for 10/100/1000BASE-T, the restriction is 100 meters, and when used for 10GBASE-T, the restriction is 55 meters. Another issue is that there are some cat6 cables that are very large and are quite difficult to connect to 8P8C connectors (a type of modular connector used for communications purposes such as phone/Ethernet jacks) when the user does not have a unique modular piece.

Cat6 vs Fiber: What about Fiber Optic Cabling?

Fiber optic cabling sometimes referred to as optical fiber, which is completely different from cat6 and other types of structured cabling systems. This is because optical fiber works by drawing on light as opposed to electricity as a means of transmitting signals. As we all know, light is the fastest mode of transmitting any information which is great for businesses with the need for speed. And because fiber optic cabling has a much cleaner signal than conventional copper cabling, it is able to transmit signals faster than ever before.

Another great thing about optical fiber is that it is immune to electrical interference. This means that a user can run it just about anywhere, anytime. The immunity of light to resistance also allows fiber optic cabling to be run over extremely long distances. In fact, it can be run countries apart without any need for boosting or cleaning the signal.

Cat6 vs Fiber: Which Should You Choose?

If you prefer to stick with old and reliable, copper data cabling may be your best option for now. But be aware that soon, fiber optic cabling may be the only option as it grows in popularity. If you prefer higher speeds, you may want to switch to fiber optic cabling right now—it’s getting faster and better every day. Fiberstore offers both Cat6 copper cables and all kinds of fiber optic patch cable with different connectors. Wish it may satisfy your needs!

What Are the Most Popular Fiber Optic Cable Types?

Recently, as the fiber optic cable is used more and more widely than earlier years, people also know more about the fiber optic cables than before. Usually, we learn that the fiber optic cables are divided into two basic types: single mode fiber and multimode fiber. However, according to the fiber optic cable is used for indoor or outdoor, there are many other fiber types too. These fiber optic cable types are all the popular ones which are available in the current market. Then I will introduce these various fiber types to you in this article.

Fiber Optic Cable Types: Indoor Fiber Optic Cables

In terms of indoor fiber optic cables, distribution cable, breakout cable, ribbon cable and LSZH cable are some popular types. Distribution cable and breakout cable all contain several jacketed simplex optical fibers packaged together inside an outer jacket, but in distribution fiber optic cable, tight buffered fibers are bundled together, with only the outer cable jacket of the cable protecting them. Besides, buffered fiber in distribution cable is 900 µm, which is smaller in size and costs less than breakout cable. Distribution cable is usually installed in intra-building backbone and inter-building campus locations. And breakout fiber optic cable is suitable for short riser and plenum applications. Ribbon cable includes up to 12 fibers contained side by side within a single jacket and is often used for network applications and data centers. LSZH cables are offered as an alternative for halogen-free applications. They are less toxic and slower to ignite which makes them a good choice for many internal installations.

Fiber Optic Cable Types: Outdoor Fiber Optic Cables

In terms of indoor fiber optic cables, however, tight buffered cables, loose tube cables, armored cables and submarine cables are some common popular fiber cable types. Among them, submarine fiber optic cables become more and more popular in recent years. These cables are used in fresh or salt water. To protect them from damage by fishing trawlers and boat anchors they have elaborately designed structures and armors. Other cable has armors is armored cable. Armored fiber optic cable includes an outer armor layer for mechanical protection and to prevent damage. They can be installed in ducts or aerially, or directly buried underground. Armor is surrounded by a polyethylene jacket. Tight buffered cable and loose tube cable are two early common outdoor fiber cables. Tight buffered cables have riser and plenum rated versions. These cables are flexible, easy to handle and simple to install. In loose tube cables, tube encloses multiple coated fibers that are surrounded by a gel compound that protects the cable from moisture in outside environments. This cable is restricted from indoor use, typically allowing entry not to exceed 50 feet.

All these indoor and outdoor fiber optic cables play an important role in optical network. As they have different characteristics, they have different applications too. For this reason, when you choose fiber optic cables, you must take their usability into consideration. For more information, you can visit Fiberstore, which designs and manufactures all these popular fiber optic cables.

Understanding Optical Fiber Cable Fire Ratings

As we all know, optical fiber cables shall be listed as suitable for the purpose. Cable usually be marked in accordance with NEC (National Electrical Code) Table 770.19. Most manufacturers put the marking on the optical fiber cable jacket every 2′ to 4′. The code does not tell you what type of cable to use (such as single-mode or multi-mode). In fact, It tells you this cable can be resistant to the spread of fire. This text will introduce the knowledge of optical fiber cable fire ratings and help you choose the right fiber for your applications.

Types of Fire-proof Optical Fiber Cable

There are three kinds of cable jacket fire ratings: plenum, riser and general purpose. Plenum cables are held to the most stringent testing of any of the cables rated by the NEC, rated for both flammability and smoke generation. Riser cables are subjected to flame tests only, and are not held to as high of a standard as Plenum rated cables. General Purpose cables may be used anywhere in commercial buildings other than areas where Riser or Plenum cables are required. Besides, optical fiber cable can be divided into nonconductive and conductive according to NEC. Nonconductive cables contain nothing that can conduct electricity, so will not accidentally energize or be energized even when closely associated with electrical conductors. Conductive cables contain noncurrent-carrying conductive members such as metallic strength members, metallic vapor barriers and metallic armor or sheath. Therefore, according to these three cable jackets and whether the cable is nonconductive or conductive, these fire-proof optical fiber cables can be divided into following several types.

Cable Marking	Type
OFNP	Nonconductive optical fiber plenum cable
OFCP	Conductive optical fiber plenum cable
OFNR	Nonconductive optical fiber riser cable
OFCR	Conductive optical fiber riser cable
OFNG/OFN	Nonconductive optical fiber general-purpose cable
OFCG/OFC	Conductive optical fiber general-purpose cable

Optical Fiber Cable Fire Ratings

There are three levels of fire resistance in terms of optical fiber cables. The ratings are hierarchical. For example, from a fire resistance standpoint, a higher rating can be substituted for any lower rating, but not vice versa. Also, nonconductive may be substituted for conductive, but not vice versa. The fire ratings of optical fiber are showed below, from most stringent to least.

Choosing the Right Fiber for Your Application

In terms of different cable fire ratings, there are different kinds of optical fiber cables. So choosing the right one becomes a difficult problem. Usually, for those planning or installing a fiber network, the key point of UL 1651 is to help ensure you select the right fiber for your particular need. These are described in article 770.19 of the NEC, but here are some common measures:

For a small, in-building deployment, using a riser – OFNP, OFCP, OFNR, OFCR,OFNG, OFCG, OFN, OFC
Within an existing, fabricated duct inside a building – OFNP, OFCP
In a plenum space that is used for environmental air inside a public building – OFNP, OFCP
Inside a fireproof shaft using a riser within any type of building – OFNP, OFCP, OFNR, OFCR,OFNG, OFCG, OFN, OFC
When using a metal raceway for in-building deployments covering multiple floors and rooms/apartments – OFNP, OFCP, OFNR, OFCR,OFNG, OFCG, OFN, OFC
For vertical runs between floors within a riser – OFNP, OFCP, OFNR, OFCR
Within a riser cable routing assembly inside a building – OFNP, OFCP, OFNR, OFCR
For in-building deployments with routing only on 1 floor – OFNP, OFCP, OFNR, OFCR,OFNG, OFCG, OFN, OFC

OFNP: Optical Fiber Nonconductive Plenum Cable

With the wide use of optical fiber cables, more and more people show their interests in plenum fiber optic cable, which is also called OFNP cable. In order to learn about this cable, first of all the meaning of the word “plenum” will be explained. And then we may introduce what the plenum fiber optic cable is. At last, applications of the OFNP cable will be described.

What does a Plenum Area Mean?

A Plenum area is a building space used for air flow or air distribution system. In most buildings, the area above a drop ceiling or under a raised floor is used as the air return (source of air) for the air conditioning. Those drop ceiling and raised floors are also where fiber cables are often installed. The concern is that during a fire, if there is burning material in a plenum air space, smoke and fumes can travel through air ducts to the whole building. For this reason, there are codes to restrict the types of materials (such as cables) that can be placed in the plenum.

In terms of plenum fiber cables, the plenum refers to a cable jacket. National Electrical Code (NEC) requires indoor fiber optic cables be marked with their fire and smoking ratings. According to NEC, a building’s inside area is divided into three types of sections: plenums, risers and general purpose areas. So there are three types of cable jacket in all: plenum, riser, and general purpose. Among plenum cables are held to the most stringent testing of any of the cables rated by the NEC, rated for both flammability and smoke generation.

What is a Plenum (OFNP) Fiber Cable?

OFNP stands for Optical Fiber Nonconductive Plenum. OFNP is the designation given by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to interior fiber optic cables which contain no electrically conductive component, and which are certified for use in plenum applications. They are engineered to prevent the spread of fire from floor to floor in a building. It is generally intended for horizontal runs especially within an air handing conduit. This type of cable complies with the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) fire safety test Plenum/910. They can be installed in ducts, plenums and other spaces used for building airflow. This is the highest fire rating fiber cable and can’t be replaced with any other cable type.

Plenum (OFNP) Fiber Cable Solutions

Since plenum cables are routed through air circulation spaces, which contain very few fire barriers, they need to be coated in flame-retardant, low smoke materials. These materials offer good resistance against possible fire, so plenum (OFNP) fiber cables have fire-resistance and low smoke production characteristics. And even if in the event that they do begin to burn, they will not emit large quantities of harmful fumes. For these reasons, these plenum fiber cables provide a low cost option for gigabit Ethernet network applications and are used for running in walls and air plenums without the use of conduit. If you want to buy this kind of effective cable, I recommend you to visit Fiberstore, which offers fully typed OFNP fiber patch cables (SC, FC, LC, ST, MU, MTRJ, E2000, MTP etc) at only 3 dollars each.

Ethernet Cable Types – Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a, and Cat7

When selecting the appropriate network cable categories to support your network, note that there are different grades within each Category. A higher grade cable with the proper installation will allow for a higher margin of error, ensuring top performance today and an extra buffer to support future technology. Properly selecting Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a, Cat7 solutions will optimally support current and future network speed requirements. But which one should you choose among different Ethernet cable types? This text will give you some guidance.

Ethernet Cable Types: Cat5e has Replaced Cat5 Ethernet Cable

Cat5 cable can support 10/100 Ethernet. That is, Ethernet and Fast Ethernet. However, Cat 5e cable can support Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet. Cat5e cable is completely backwards compatible, and can be used in any application in which you would normally use Cat 5 cable. Crosstalk is the electrical interference that results when one wire’s signal affects another wire’s signal. Cat5e cable has been improved over Cat5 cable in this respect, and cross talk has been greatly reduced. We all know that bandwidth is directly related to network support. The greater the bandwidth, the greater the information-carrying capacity in a given period of time. Cat5e cable is rated at 100 MHz, and it is this increased bandwidth (compared to Cat5 cable) that allows it to support Gigabit Ethernet. Since 1G is widely used today, the Cat5e has gradually replaced the Cat5.

Ethernet Cable Types: Choose Cat5e or Cat6 Ethernet Cable?

Cat6 is a standardized cable for Gigabit Ethernet and other network physical layers that is backward compatible with the Cat5/5e and Cat3 cable standards. Compared with Cat5 and Cat5e, Cat6 features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise. The cable standard provides performance of up to 250 MHz and is suitable for 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX (Fast Ethernet), 1000BASE-T/1000BASE-TX (Gigabit Ethernet). We may notice that both Cat5e and Cat6 can support Gigabit Ethernet, however, Cat6 is certified for Gigabit networking and will perform better over longer distances. So choosing the Cat6 cable will be more stable to meet the Gigabit needs. But one thing you should keep in mind is that your network is only as fast as your slowest component, so unless every piece of your network (routers, cables, etc.) supports Gigabit Ethernet, you will not be able to reach those speeds.

Ethernet Cable Types: Cat6 vs Cat6a Ethernet Cable

The latest standard from the TIA for enhanced performance standards for twisted pair cable systems was defined in February 2009 in ANSI/TIA-568-C.1. According to this standard, Cat6a is also called Augmented Cat6, which is 10-Gigabit Ethernet over copper proposal to the Cat6 standard. Category 6a performs at improved specifications, in particular in the area of alien crosstalk as compared to Cat6, which exhibited high alien noise in high frequencies. Cat6 specifies cable operating at minimum frequency of 500 MHz—twice that of Cat 6, for both shielded and unshielded. It can support future 10 Gb/s applications up to the maximum distance of 100 meters on a 4-connector channel. Compared with the Cat6, Cat6a is more effective and flexible. As 10G is more and more widely used, Cat6a will become more and more popular.

Cat7 Will be the Ethernet Cable of Choice

Cat7 cables are designed to support much higher frequency signals than Cat5e and Cat6. This allows Cat7 cabling to carry a larger amount of information. Cat7 cable is also able to better protect the signals traveling over the cable. The shielding as well as the tighter twists of the pairs in Cat7 cable lessens the effects of crosstalk and EMI. Cat7 cable is commonly terminated using a GG45 connector, which is a connector that it backwards compatible with the 8p8c RJ45 connectors used on Cat6 or Cat5e cable. The GG45 connector has four additional conductors that provide support for frequencies of up to 600MHz. The higher frequencies allow Cat 7 cable to support 10-Gigabit Ethernet. Currently, Cat7 is not widely adopted. Cat5e and Cat6 solutions sufficiently support the bandwidth requirements of today’s data centers, networks, and end users. Using Cat7 for a connection to a desktop would be unnecessary because the bandwidth would not be utilized. It may also be an unnecessary expense for many data center applications for the same reason. However, as technology advances and requirements increase, Cat7 cable will become more relevant in the data center and desktop connections.

Comparison of Different Ethernet Cable Types

Some specifications for Cat5, Cat6, Cat7 are introduced above, then I will show you a table. From the table below, you can see their differences more clearly:

Comparison of Different Ethernet Cable Types