Different types of ethernet cable

ss4

Just looking at ethernet cables on amazon and I was just wondering what the difference is between all of them.
There's Cat5e, patch cable, UTP, snagless, RJ45, crossover cable, cat6, fastCAT.

Whats the difference between all of these cables?

Thanks.

Bikertov

patch cable - this is the generic name for a cable between two pieces of eqiuipment, or a wall socket and equipment. As opposed to the 'fixed' wiring in the walls or under the floors

snagless - this means that the cable is manufactured in a way and from materials that will tend not to catch or twist easily

UTP - stands for Unshielded Twisted Pairs. If you were to strip the plastic outer sheath from the cable, you would see it is made from 4 pairs of wires, Twisted together. The sheath has no Shielding (compare to TV coax cable, that has fine copper braided wire surrounding the inner core)

RJ45 - this is the style of connector at the end of the cable, that is standard for this sort of network cable. It has 8 copper connections and a locking key.

crossover cable - this means that the pairs are not wired pin 1 - pin 1, pin 2 - pin 2 etc. This would be used on rare occassions when you direcly connected 2 pieces of equipment together, instead of using a network 'router', 'hub' or 'switch' as an interconnecting device.

Cat5e, cat6 - These are cabling standards that define the electrical characteristics and performance, including speed of connection. CAT6 is higher spec, but for normal home use, any CAT5, CAT5e or CAT 6 cable will do - go for the cheapest.

fastCAT - never heard of this, although a quick Google seems to suggest it is Belkins marketing name for 'fast' ethernet cable ? No real meaning to this IMHO.

If you are buying patch cables, you should not need to spend more than about £1 or £2 on a short (1 or 2m) cable. Any more than that and you are being taken for a ride.

Hope that helps !

fwor

Last post pretty much says it all. I've never heard of fastCAT either. If you need any more info, consult:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet

Bikertov

fwor wrote: »

If you need any more info, consult:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet

I did not want to get too techie ...

fwor

Bikertov wrote: »

I did not want to get too techie ...

Agreed - most wikis are good at explaining things so they are easy to understand, but that one isn't!

ss4

Bikertov wrote: »

patch cable - this is the generic name for a cable between two pieces of eqiuipment, or a wall socket and equipment. As opposed to the 'fixed' wiring in the walls or under the floors

snagless - this means that the cable is manufactured in a way and from materials that will tend not to catch or twist easily

UTP - stands for Unshielded Twisted Pairs. If you were to strip the plastic outer sheath from the cable, you would see it is made from 4 pairs of wires, Twisted together. The sheath has no Shielding (compare to TV coax cable, that has fine copper braided wire surrounding the inner core)

RJ45 - this is the style of connector at the end of the cable, that is standard for this sort of network cable. It has 8 copper connections and a locking key.

crossover cable - this means that the pairs are not wired pin 1 - pin 1, pin 2 - pin 2 etc. This would be used on rare occassions when you direcly connected 2 pieces of equipment together, instead of using a network 'router', 'hub' or 'switch' as an interconnecting device.

Cat5e, cat6 - These are cabling standards that define the electrical characteristics and performance, including speed of connection. CAT6 is higher spec, but for normal home use, any CAT5, CAT5e or CAT 6 cable will do - go for the cheapest.

fastCAT - never heard of this, although a quick Google seems to suggest it is Belkins marketing name for 'fast' ethernet cable ? No real meaning to this IMHO.

If you are buying patch cables, you should not need to spend more than about £1 or £2 on a short (1 or 2m) cable. Any more than that and you are being taken for a ride.

Hope that helps !

It's definitely helped! Thanks for making it so clear.

Just one question, is it better to buy a UTP or non UTP cable?

ss4

I did have a look at the wikipedia page but it seemed very confusing.

scottishf

UTP is most common......Shielded cables are more expensive..so depends what they are being used for.

Bikertov

ss4 wrote: »

It's definitely helped! Thanks for making it so clear.

Just one question, is it better to buy a UTP or non UTP cable?

I would be suprised if you could get a Non-UTP (you probably mean STP - Shielded Twisted Pair) cable in a typical high street electrical retailer.

Even so, it would be no real benefit to you. The normal 'Ethernet' network connection in your PC is designed for UTP cables.

ss4

Would you be able to use a crossover cable for connecting a PC to a router or are they exclusively for PC to PC?

pcombo

Why would you want to use a crossover to a router as the router has routing built into route the traffic to each node.

As someone pointed out crossover should be used if you dont have Hub, Switch or a router. Think they woulda been used to share an internet connection when using old style usb modems.