Cat5

Category 5 (Cat 5) Cabling.

Category 5 (often shortened to Cat 5) cable is a multipair (4 twisted pair) cable used for data or combined data and voice communications. The twisted pairs of cables reduce interference through crosstalk. Cat 5 can be used for applications such as 10baseT and 100baseT Ethernet, RS-232, RS-485, and can even be used for analogue phone cabling, CCTV cabling, audio cabling, video cabling and security cabling.

Category 5E (enhanced) cable is essentially identical to standard Cat 5 cable, apart from the fact that it is tested to higher standards, which enable it to be used for data transmission speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps). As a conseqeunce of this, for data cabling, Cat 5E is recommended over Cat 5, since it enables Gigabit Ethernet data networks.

As with other cabling categories, Cat 5 and Cat 5E cables are often referred to as UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair), or STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) cables.

EIA/TIA 568A and 568B

The wiring within the Cat 5 and Cat 5E cables should follow one of 2 recognised wiring schemes. These are designated 568A and 568B, and form part of a standard called EIA/TIA 568A. It should be noted that the most widely used of the 2 wiring schemes is the 568B wiring scheme.

Physically, and in terms of performance and capability, there is no difference between the 2 wiring schemes. The only difference is in the way the wires are connected to a device at either end (e.g. a patch panel, an RJ-45 plug, an RJ-45 socket module).

The important point to note when installing a Cat 5 or Cat 5E cabled network, is that once the cable is wired for one of the 2 wiring schemes; 568A or 568B, it is essential that the same wiring scheme is then followed for the rest of the wiring network.

EIA/TIA 568A Wiring Scheme

EIA/TIA 568B Wiring Scheme