Cat6 Plenum Vs Cat5e Differences That Matter
Choosing the perfect cable such as cat plenum cables for your business or home network is essential. The type or in other words, the category of cable you choose affects the performance of your network system. This is because the wired network cables allow you to achieve better network speeds at a reasonable cost. Also, these cables are less prone to crosstalk, which may decrease the performance of any network. When we talk about such cables, the cat6 plenum and cat5e come to our mind. So, if you want to choose the best out of these two, this article will help you a lot.
How About The Speed Factor
The cat6 plenum and its predecessor, both cables, have twisted pairs that are twisted tightly to reduce the effect of crosstalk. However, the number of twists and overall conductivity of both these cables differ from each other. This is the point where the differences between these cables start. There are some basic terminologies that you should know to differentiate the differences between cat6 plenum cables and their counterparts.
When we say a UTP cable, it means it is an Unshielded Twisted pair cable. As mentioned, the twisted pairs in these cables are there but the difference is that the whole pairs don’t have any shield over them. Following the same pattern, there is another terminology known as STP or shielded twisted pair cables. If we talk about the internals of these cables, the story is pretty much the same. You get high-quality four twisted pairs. The Only difference is that they have that extra shielding on top of them. This layer of shielding keeps the plenum-rated cable on top of the twisted pair cable pairs makes them less prone to crosstalk including the Alien crosstalk.
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The Bandwidth Speed
While buying any network cable, the first thing you may focus on is the bandwidth speed. The different kinds of network cables have different bandwidth speeds. If we specifically talk about the cat6 plenum, their bandwidth speed maxes out at 550 Mhz. Now on paper, it might seem that this figure is kind of low but in the real world, these minor differences do make a lot of difference in the overall output of these cables.
Enhanced Cable Category
I understand now that the cat6 cables offer less crosstalk and also better overall performance. Now, the simple reason for this improved performance is that it’s a better cabling option compared to its competitors. It has better bandwidth speed and also improved data transfer speed.
The improved shielding of the cat6 cables helps them offer significant resistance to interferences such as crosstalk. The twists of pairs are also better in the plenum-rated cat6 cables. So these improvements may seem tiny on a piece of paper, but it's these differences that enhance the performance of these cables.
Conclusion:
Whether you want to set up a small network at your office or want to connect multiple systems, routers, or network switches with each other, either of these cables will work for you. However, the cat6 plenum promised to improve speed, connectivity, and most important is an overall better cabling option. Compared to its competitors, it has a much better and enhanced fire-retardant coating, meaning that it’s a much safe cabling option.
For plenum space, where you need a cable that is fireproof to a great extent. Also, you would need better speed in such a place. It doesn’t mean that if you are going for a thick fire-retardant cable jacketing, it should compromise the performance. So, for supreme performance and safety, this cable is all you need.