Is the new cat6 cable worth it?

[ChrisZ24]

I saw this at best buy, anyone try it yet?

Chris

[DiskDoc]

cat6? isn't cat5e the latest? argh..

thanx for the info though.. will check it out

[ChrisZ24]

I thought it was the highest too, until i saw the cat6. Said it out performs the cat5e


Chris

[C.M. Weaver]

CAT-5e is for Gigabyte ethernet. Unless you have gigabyte switches or a pressing need for 1000MB speeds you don't need CAT-5e or CAT-6.

The difference between them is that CAT6 uses 23AWG opposed to CAT-5e using 24AWG copper wire. CAT6 also cuts down on crosstalk by having tighter twists in the cable. Also, you can experience timeouts when you have long runs of CAT6 because of skew delay.

[Robopig]

I have had to get up to speed on wiring specs recently, to work on rewiring some buildings at work. The few points I can add are: quality cat6 cable will include a seperator in the cable which keeps each pair isolated from one another, which also means cat6 tends to be a bit bulkier than the lesser categories, I saw some lab work done by Anixter, which showed that even using Cat6 at current speeds could show a benefit by greatly reducing the number of errors/bad packets transmitted. I dont remember the exact numbers, but they ran packets through a CAT5, CAT5e, and CAT6 patch cable, at 100mbps, CAT5 had a 8% error rate, CAT5e had a 1.X % error rate, and CAT6 showed a .001 % error rate.

[zxc47]

Robopig: I have been running cat6 for about 6 month now. I glad to see somebody on there that knows something new.

[ChrisZ24]

hmm, maybe i should buy some then.

CHris

[Brent]

that sounds interesting

are the length specs the same with Cat6 as Cat5? how long can you run it before you loose signal?

[Ghosthunter]

CAt6 has not been ratified yet, the standards are not finalized.

From what I read about it, you wont see any significiant increase unless you are using 1000baseT. It is too expensive for 100baseT.

I think it will flop anyway because if you going to use Gigabyte, you are better off using fiber. It might be more expensive but if you goign to spend that much on gigabyte you are prepared for that as a company. Unless the company is planning on running gigabyte to the desktop but that is overkill right now.

[zxc47]

I think that it is going to be the new standards for all networking .They are going to drop cat5 and cat5e and just use one the cat6 for every thing 10/T to 1000. That what I read. Infact if you go into any store around here, thats all they have is cat6 at about the same price as cat5 or cat5e.That why I have cat6 because that all they had. I ask about the cat5e or cat5 they said that they were not even order it any more.And your right davy19
it has not been ratified yet. So all of you who want to stay with cat5 and cat5e better go and get it befor it all gone.LOL:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[YeOldeStonecat]

I've had a spool of Avaya CAT6 since spring of last year. True while it's not going to rate faster than current 5e for giganet, in reality it's attenuation is a wee lower, but I'd say if you're wiring anything permanent, why not be forward thinking, and use wiring that will be the standard in a couple of years. It's not really much more $.

[Ghosthunter]

I think by the time we need cat6 as standard, if it ever gets standardized we will be running fiber to the desktop. I cant wait for that day.

And as someone mentioned above skew delay can be a problem for long runs, but if not worried about long runs then go for it I guess.

[Robopig]

As someone pointed out, anything called CAT6 now is really not since the standard isnt finalized yet, but I think they have a pretty good idea what the specs are. As for comparisons to Fiber, the information I read stated that CAT6 would actually exceed the bandwidth of Fiber when used properly. Current 62.5 micron fiber I'm told has a bandwidth of 200mhz, while the current CAT6 spec will top out at 250mhz.
I think if you are just talking about a patch cable, there really isnt any reason not to use a CAT6 rated cable if you need to buy one anyway.

[zxc47]

As I see it why would they keep makeing cat5 and cat5e if cat6 can replace it, and why would stores want to stock all 3 when the cat6 can do it all .at the same price

[Ghosthunter]

There is no way cat6 is better than fiber.

Here are some reasons why:

There is nothing that will be faster than the speed of light. It also is not effected by elctrointerference or radio signals. You can run it extremely long distances, not sure of specs offhand. Those are just some of the major ones I know of offhand.


The only true advantage I see is it will be cheaper to run cat6 to the desktops in the corporate environment then fiber, but in a corporate envrionment I would never recommend running cat6 until there is a standard. I personally just think it is all vendors trying to make more money, hyping it up.