How are Cat5E and Cat6 different?

How are Cat5E and Cat6 different?

The general difference between category 5e and category 6 is in the transmission performance, and extension of the allowed bandwidth from 100 MHz for category 5e to 200 MHz for category 6. This includes better insertion loss, near end crosstalk (NEXT), return loss, and equal level far end crosstalk (ELFEXT). Improvements, such as described, provide a higher signal-to-noise ratio, allowing greater reliability for current applications and higher data rates for future applications.

Category 6 will eventually supercede category 5e. Analyst predictions and
independent polls indicate that 85 to 95 percent of new installations will
be installed with category 6. The fact that category 6 link and channel requirements are backward compatible to category 5e makes it quite easy for customers to choose category 6 and supersede category 5e in their networks. Applications that worked over category 5e will still work over
category 6.

Because of its greater transmission performance and better immunity from
external noise, systems operating over 6 cabling will have fewer errors vs. category 5e for current applications. This means fewer re-transmissions of lost or corrupted data packets under certain conditions, which translates into higher reliability for category 6
networks compared to category 5e networks. Category 6 will be very effective in the residential market to support higher Internet access speeds while facilitating the more stringent Class B EMC requirements (see also the entire FCC Rules and Regulations, Title 47, Part 15). The better balance of category 6 will make it easier to meet the residential EMC requirements compared to category 5e cabling. Also, the growth of streaming media applications to the home will increase the need for higher data rates which are supported more easily and efficiently by category 6 cabling.

Applications:

-100 BASE-T; 1000 BASE-T; 10 BASE-T (IEEE 802.3)

-100 VG-Any LAN; 4/16 Mbps Token Ring (IEEE 802.5)

-55/155 Mbps ATM; 100 Mbps TP-PMD (ANSI X3T9.5)

-Voice

-Cat6 and Cat5e cable designed For: Network Adapters, Switches, Hubs, Routers, DSL/Cable Modems, Patch Panels and other twisted-pair applications

CAT5E cable definition:

Ethernet cable standard is defined by the Electronic Industries Association and Telecommunications Industry Association. CAT5 is the 5th generation of twisted pair Ethernet cabling and the most popular of all twisted pair cables in use today The Category 5e standard is now officially part of the 568A standard. Cat5e is recommended at a minimum for all new installations, and was designed for transmission speeds of up to 1 gigabit
per second (Gigabit Ethernet). Maximum length for CAT5e cable: 100m

CAT6 cable definition:

CAT6 is an Ethernet cable standard defined by the Electronic Industries Association and Telecommunications Industry Association (commonly known as EIA/TIA). CAT6 is the 6th generation of twisted pair Ethernet cabling. Cat6 contains four pairs of copper wire and unlike CAT5, utilizes all four pairs. CAT6 supports Gigabit (1000 Mbps) Ethernet and supports communications at more than twice the speed of CAT5e, the other popular standard for Gigabit Ethernet cabling.