Network Cable Q&A
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What is the difference between the “CAT” standards for Ethernet cabling?
What doe the terms 10Base-T, 100Base-T and 1000Base-T mean?
What are the pinouts used for standard Ethernet connectors?
How is an Ethernet crossover cable different than a standard Ethernet cable?
How is an Ethernet crossover cable different than a standard Ethernet cable?
Crimped or booted connectors?
What is the difference between the “CAT” standards for Ethernet cabling?
The different categories of Ethernet cabling are often listed by the short name of “CAT”
with specific terms such as CAT5. These are standards as defined by ANSI (American
National Standards Institute) and determine the characteristics of the cable. Category 5
cable refers to 4 twisted pairs in a single cable jacket. Category 5 enhanced or what is
called CAT5e is similar to regular CAT5 but reduces some crosstalk to give it the
“enhanced” specification. Both cables can be used for 10MBs Ethernet, 100MBs Ethernet
and the faster Gigabyte Ethernet but the enhanced CAT5e version of course is an overall
better choice. Recently, a newer standard is starting to be commonly seen on the
marketplace and that is Category 6 cabling or CAT6. This standard also builds on the
previous specifications and is even more stringent when it comes to crosstalk and noise. It
is more common when implementing Gigabyte Ethernet but is also backward compatible
and will work with the older standards of 10MBs Ethernet and 100MBs Ethernet.
What does the terms 10Base-T, 100Base-T and 1000Base-T mean?
There are several varieties of Ethernet and the terms above typically define the common
standards found today. All three of these standards use twisted pair wiring and have
theoretical bandwidth of 10 Mbit/second, 100 Mbits/second and 1000 Mbits/second. The
“Base” term refers to the term baseband and the “T” refers to usage on twisted pair wiring.
Note that the actual rated data throughput is less than the theoretical standards as other
factors come into play such as network protocol overhead, wiring noise, etc.
What are the pinouts used for standard Ethernet connectors?
Most common modern Ethernet cabling uses twisted pair cabling (usually CAT5, CAT5e
or CAT6) with an RJ45 type connector on each end. This type of connector is similar to
what is found on your telephone but is slightly larger. The RJ45 connector has eight pins
for the eight individual wires that are in the Ethernet cable and the wiring for standard
cabling is “straight-thru”. This means that the wire that is connected to pin 1 is the same
wire that is connected to pin 1 on the other end of the cable and so on for the other wires.
How is an Ethernet crossover cable different than a standard Ethernet cable?
A standard Ethernet cable consists of pinouts that are straight-thru or in other words, pin 1
on one end goes to pin 1 on the other end and so on. The crossover cable for 10Base-T
and 100Base-T have pairs 2 and 3 swapped and for 1000Base-T additional pairs 1 and 4
are swapped as well. In the past cross-over cables were needed to connect two hubs
together or two PCs together without going through a hub. Many new network adapters,
switches and hubs have the built-in capability to sense when a cross-over is needed and
perform this automatically to make cross-over cables obsolete.
Crimped or booted connectors?
You probably have noticed a difference in shopping for network cables that the connectors
vary somewhat. The two major differences are that some network cable connectors are
simply crimped on the cable, similar to what you find with your standard telephone cables.
The other common type is a booted connector which is additional plastic sheathing that is
molded around the cable at the base of the connector. In addition, booted connectors
typically come with a protective piece of plastic over the top of the connector tab to make
it “snagless”. Which one is better may depend on what you are using it for and your
personal preference. Many people like booted snagless connectors because the tab will
last longer without getting caught on other cables or peripherals that can break the tab.
The crimped style is often used by cable technicians for use in patch panels as they can be
plugged and unplugged easier and faster, which can be convenient when plugging in
hundreds of patch cables. When a tab does get snagged and breaks, the technician will
simply throw it away and replace it with a new one.
Example of snagless cables with booted connectors:
What is plenum cable and riser cable?
Plenum cable has a special jacket that is fire retardant and emits very little smoke if
burned. It is used per specific building codes in plenum spaces which is the space used for
air circulation typically above a suspended ceiling or raised floor. Cable that does not
have the special fire retardant jacket that is run in the non-plenum area of a building is
called riser cable.
What doe the terms 10Base-T, 100Base-T and 1000Base-T mean?
What are the pinouts used for standard Ethernet connectors?
How is an Ethernet crossover cable different than a standard Ethernet cable?
How is an Ethernet crossover cable different than a standard Ethernet cable?
Crimped or booted connectors?
What is the difference between the “CAT” standards for Ethernet cabling?
The different categories of Ethernet cabling are often listed by the short name of “CAT”
with specific terms such as CAT5. These are standards as defined by ANSI (American
National Standards Institute) and determine the characteristics of the cable. Category 5
cable refers to 4 twisted pairs in a single cable jacket. Category 5 enhanced or what is
called CAT5e is similar to regular CAT5 but reduces some crosstalk to give it the
“enhanced” specification. Both cables can be used for 10MBs Ethernet, 100MBs Ethernet
and the faster Gigabyte Ethernet but the enhanced CAT5e version of course is an overall
better choice. Recently, a newer standard is starting to be commonly seen on the
marketplace and that is Category 6 cabling or CAT6. This standard also builds on the
previous specifications and is even more stringent when it comes to crosstalk and noise. It
is more common when implementing Gigabyte Ethernet but is also backward compatible
and will work with the older standards of 10MBs Ethernet and 100MBs Ethernet.
What does the terms 10Base-T, 100Base-T and 1000Base-T mean?
There are several varieties of Ethernet and the terms above typically define the common
standards found today. All three of these standards use twisted pair wiring and have
theoretical bandwidth of 10 Mbit/second, 100 Mbits/second and 1000 Mbits/second. The
“Base” term refers to the term baseband and the “T” refers to usage on twisted pair wiring.
Note that the actual rated data throughput is less than the theoretical standards as other
factors come into play such as network protocol overhead, wiring noise, etc.
What are the pinouts used for standard Ethernet connectors?
Most common modern Ethernet cabling uses twisted pair cabling (usually CAT5, CAT5e
or CAT6) with an RJ45 type connector on each end. This type of connector is similar to
what is found on your telephone but is slightly larger. The RJ45 connector has eight pins
for the eight individual wires that are in the Ethernet cable and the wiring for standard
cabling is “straight-thru”. This means that the wire that is connected to pin 1 is the same
wire that is connected to pin 1 on the other end of the cable and so on for the other wires.
How is an Ethernet crossover cable different than a standard Ethernet cable?
A standard Ethernet cable consists of pinouts that are straight-thru or in other words, pin 1
on one end goes to pin 1 on the other end and so on. The crossover cable for 10Base-T
and 100Base-T have pairs 2 and 3 swapped and for 1000Base-T additional pairs 1 and 4
are swapped as well. In the past cross-over cables were needed to connect two hubs
together or two PCs together without going through a hub. Many new network adapters,
switches and hubs have the built-in capability to sense when a cross-over is needed and
perform this automatically to make cross-over cables obsolete.
Crimped or booted connectors?
You probably have noticed a difference in shopping for network cables that the connectors
vary somewhat. The two major differences are that some network cable connectors are
simply crimped on the cable, similar to what you find with your standard telephone cables.
The other common type is a booted connector which is additional plastic sheathing that is
molded around the cable at the base of the connector. In addition, booted connectors
typically come with a protective piece of plastic over the top of the connector tab to make
it “snagless”. Which one is better may depend on what you are using it for and your
personal preference. Many people like booted snagless connectors because the tab will
last longer without getting caught on other cables or peripherals that can break the tab.
The crimped style is often used by cable technicians for use in patch panels as they can be
plugged and unplugged easier and faster, which can be convenient when plugging in
hundreds of patch cables. When a tab does get snagged and breaks, the technician will
simply throw it away and replace it with a new one.
Example of snagless cables with booted connectors:
What is plenum cable and riser cable?
Plenum cable has a special jacket that is fire retardant and emits very little smoke if
burned. It is used per specific building codes in plenum spaces which is the space used for
air circulation typically above a suspended ceiling or raised floor. Cable that does not
have the special fire retardant jacket that is run in the non-plenum area of a building is
called riser cable.
