Cat-5 cable is an industry standard for network and telephone cabling. It contains four pairs of 24-gauge copper twisted pairs and can support data speeds of 100 mbps or more. Cat-5e is an advanced cable that supports 1,000 Mbps or Gigabit Ethernet. There are three different configurations for the pinouts or wiring of RJ-45 connectors.
Cat-5 cable, sometimes called Ethernet cable, is short for Category 5 cable, a current industry standard for network and telephone cabling. This type of cable is unshielded wire containing four pairs of 24-gauge copper twisted pairs, terminating in an RJ-45 jack. If a cable is certified as Cat-5 and not just a twisted pair cable, it will have this designation stamped on the outside.
The outer jacket of this type of cable can come in many colors, with bright blue being quite common. Inside, the twisted pairs are also plastic-coated with a standard color scheme: solid orange, blue, green, and brown wires twisted around mates that are white and streaked with a solid color. Twisted pairs reduce interference and crosstalk and should be left twisted except at the termination point. Some experts recommend uncoiling only 0.5 inch (12.7 mm) of the pairs for stripping and making connections. Cat-5 cable can be purchased on a reel in various lengths or purchased pre-cut to standard lengths with RJ-45 jacks already attached.
Cat-5 replaces Cat-3 cable, which can only carry data at speeds up to 10 megabits per second (mbps), while the newer cable standard supports data speeds of 100 mbps or more. It can also reach 300 feet (100 meters), and beyond networks and telephones, it can be used for many other purposes. Cat-5e is an advanced cable that supports 1,000 Mbps or Gigabit Ethernet, or it can be used with 100 Base-T networks for long distance runs of 1,150 meters. This type of cable meets a specific standard called “EIA/TIA 350A-568”, which should be printed on the outer sheath.
Among Cat-5 cables, there are three different configurations for the pinouts or wiring of RJ-45 connectors. Various network devices use one of three, called straight through, crossover, and rollover.
For example, the cable running from a computer to a switch will be a straight through cable. If two PCs or two switches are connected, a crossover cable would be used. A roll-over cable will connect a PC to a router. Newer devices, however, can detect the type of cable being used and route signals accordingly.
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