What's the difference between a Cat6 Ethernet Cable (doesn't have to be one specific) from a Cat5 cable? I'm saying it for terms of downloading/uploading and networking issues.

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Attached Link: http://www.amazon.com/Cat6-Network-Ethernet-Cable-Blue/dp/B000V1R96Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328649835&sr=8-1

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A quick look at Wikipedia told me the following:


Category 6 cable, commonly referred to as Cat 6, is a cable standard for Gigabit Ethernet and other network physical layers that is backward compatible with the Category 5/5e and Category 3 cable standards. Compared with Cat 5 and Cat 5e, Cat 6 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) and 10GBASE-T (10-Gigabit Ethernet).

Whereas Category 6 cable has a reduced maximum length when used for 10GBASE-T; Category 6a cable, or Augmented Category 6, is characterized to 500 MHz and has improved alien crosstalk characteristics, allowing 10GBASE-T to be run for the same distance as previous protocols.


Good question though, I always wondered the difference myself.

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Attached Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_6_cable

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^ok, explain in easy terms. that didnt help at all.

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cat6 is slightly better and much shorter if I read that correctly.

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CAT 6 cable is simply certified for higher rates of data transfer than CAT 5E, typically it will have slightly thicker conducting cores (the little copper wires) and frequently a central insulator, a plastic piece shaped like a cross that separates the four pairs of twisted conductors to cut down on induction related interference. The RJ45 plugs for the ends of CAT 6 are slightly different too, they have larger holes to accomodate the thicker conductors.

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If you have gigabit ethernet, you must have CAT6.

If you only have 10 or 100Mbit ethernet, CAT5 is enough.

More in depth:

When I say ethernet, I mean the connection between all the computers in your home/school/work, etc.

If you only have one computer that is only connected to the Internet, you only need CAT5. If you have a 1 gigabit Internet connection (not possible unless you live in Sweden or South Korea), you need CAT6.

That's it.