If you’re a technology-minded person, you’ve probably got an idea of what a Cat5e Cable does. However, most civilians wouldn’t even realize if they were using a Cat5e cable right now to read this article.
At the most basic level, Cat5e cables are long lasting ethernet cables. Cat 5 is short for a Category 5 cable, for those not in the know. Bulk cat5e cables are often purchased by network engineers, IT professionals, or anyone else with a lot of networking needs.
For anyone looking for a more thorough understanding of these common ethernet cables, keep reading to learn more.
A Beginner’s Guide to Cat5e Cables
If you have a computer at home or work, chances are you’ve seen either Cat6 cables or Cat5 cables already. They’re those thick cables that run between the modem and your PC, and they transmit internet signals to and from your computer.
They come in several colors, with grey and blue being the most commonly used colors, and they come in many lengths to suit various needs. For most consumer uses, these ethernet cables come in sizes ranging from 6 inches to 15 feet. For more advanced networking solutions, 75 ft ethernet cables would be more common. At the end of the cable, in a plastic sheath, there are a series of tiny wires in different colors. There are blue, orange, yellow, green, and white wires visible in the sheath, which is plugged into the computer, modem, wall outlet, or internet phone.
These smaller cables send the signal from one source to another in a timely manner, and they help deal with a lot of latency when there is a heavy flow of information.
A lot of companies partook in bulk cat5e cable buying once the updated standards were released, as it augmented the slower Cat5 cables. Standard Cat5 cables featured a sluggish speed of 100 mbps. The Cat 5e is the improved version, with 1,000 mbps data transfer support. Already, the Category 5 cables are largely being replaced with the Category 6.
As with other aspects of internet technology, new standards are being developed all the time. Hopefully, you understand a little more about the Cat5 and Cat5e cables now. Fortunately for internet civilians, whether you understand how these cables work or not, they’ll still work just the same.