Cat 6a Cable Specifications

The category 6 augmented cable standard or cat 6a was created to further improve the performance of cat 6 ethernet cables using cat 6a enables 10 gigabit ethernet data rates over a single cable run up to 328 feet.

Cat 6a cable specifications.

The cable standard specifies performance of up to 250 mhz compared to 100 mhz for cat 5 and cat 5e. Cat6a cables allow performance up to 500 mhz. Decreases the chance of crosstalk interference. These categories are how we can easily know what type of cable we need for a specific application.

In order to run 10gbase t for 100 meters category 6a cable or augmented category 6 cables need to be used. Cat 6 has to meet more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise than cat 5 and cat 5e. Both cat5e and cat6 cable specifications allow lengths up to 100 meters but cat6e has a lower max length 55 meters when used for 10gbase t 10 gigabit ethernet. The new cat 6a standard extends the frequency of cat 6a cables to 500 mhz and includes specifications for a new performance parameter known as alien crosstalk anext.

The a stands for augmented and is a nod to cat6a s improved specifications compared with its predecessor the category 6 or cat6 cable. Before the category 6a standard became official several companies marketed upgraded category 6 cables as category 6e cables. The cat6a doubles data transmission bandwidth from 250 to 500 mhz. Cat 6 supports 10 gigabit ethernet only up to 164 feet of cable length.

Category 6a cables are fully backward compatible with all the previous categories including category 6 and 5e. Draft specification ansi tia eia 568 b 2 10 specifies cable systems called augmented category 6 or more frequently as category 6a that operate at frequencies up to 500 mhz and will provide up to 10. Category 6 cable cat 6 is a standardized twisted pair cable for ethernet and other network physical layers that is backward compatible with the category 5 5e and category 3 cable standards. Cat8 cable or category 8 cable is an ethernet cable which differs greatly from the previous cables in that it supports a frequency of up to 2 ghz 2000 mhz and is limited to a 30 meter 2 connector channel while cat8 cable requires shielded cabling as well.

The tia is working to complete a new specification that will define enhanced performance standards for unshielded twisted pair cable systems. Sometimes the category is updated with further clarification or testing standards e g. Most importantly cat8 ethernet patch cables can support a speed of 25 gbps or even 40 gbps. The category 6a or cat6a cable is the latest iteration of gigabit ethernet cabling.

Some options that are available include small diameter non bonded and patented bonded pair. And provides superior reliability and transmission. Ethernet cables are grouped into sequentially numbered categories cat based on different specifications.