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Category 1 cable (Cat 1) a.k.a. voice-grade copper is a misnomer, probably adopted by those who assumed that TIA set up "Categories" for all types of cables originally defined by Anixter, the distributor, under the grades called "Levels." TIA-568 only recognized cables of Category 3 ratings or above. Anixter "Level 1" was a grade of unshielded twisted pair cabling designed for telephone communications, and was the most common on-premises wiring.
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Unshielded and shielded twisted pair cabling standards |
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- Cat 1: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Previously used for POTS telephone communications, ISDN and doorbell wiring.
- Cat 2: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Previously was frequently used on 4 Mbit/s token ring networks.
- Cat 3: Currently defined in TIA/EIA-568-B, used for data networks using frequencies up to 16 MHz. Historically popular for 10 Mbit/s Ethernet networks.
- Cat 4: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Provided performance of up to 20 MHz, and was frequently used on 16 Mbit/s token ring networks.
- Cat 5: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Provided performance of up to 100 MHz, and was frequently used on 100 Mbit/s Ethernet networks. May be unsuitable for 1000BASE-T gigabit ethernet.
- Cat 5e: Currently defined in TIA/EIA-568-B. Provides performance of up to 100 MHz, and is frequently used for both 100 Mbit/s and Gigabit Ethernet networks.
- Cat 6: Currently defined in TIA/EIA-568-B. Provides performance of up to 250 MHz, more than double category 5 and 5e.
- Cat 6a: Currently defined in ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2-10. Provides performance of up to 500 MHz, double that of category 6. Suitable for 10GBase-T.
- Cat 7: An informal name applied to ISO/IEC 11801 Class F cabling. This standard specifies four individually-shielded pairs (STP) inside an overall shield. Designed for transmission at frequencies up to 600 MHz.
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| See also: TIA/EIA-568-B • Ethernet • 8P8C • Ethernet crossover cable • Twisted pair |
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