Internet, computer hardware: Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6
Self-tutoring about hardwire connectivity: the tutor mentions types of ethernet cable.
The following is according to my understanding.
Back in my post from Nov 9 I mention that we bought some ethernet cable, as well as an ethernet-to-usb-c adapter, to hard-wire my son’s laptop to the gateway. Yet, what kind of ethernet cable was it?
Cat6, is the answer. People may have heard of Cat5, Cat5e, and Cat6: what are the differences among the three?
Cat5 came first, back in 1991. It can achieve 100MHz bandwidth, and maximum data speed 10 to 100Mbps.
Cat5e came next, back in 1999. It can achieve 100MHz bandwidth, but maximum data speed 100 to potentially 1000Mbps. 1000Mbps = 1Gbps. It seems the way that Cat5e achieves greater speed than Cat5 is by reduced crosstalk among its internals.
The Cat6 standard is from around 2002. Cat6 has 250MHz bandwidth, with maximum data speed of 1 to 10Gbps.
Cat6 conductors are typically 23 AWG, vs 24 AWG for Cat5e. Moreover, Cat6 is meant to have an interior spline, or plastic frame, that separates its pairs of wires from each other to reduce interference. For those two reasons, Cat6 is less flexible than Cat5e.
Source:
Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.