Ethernet Cable Categories (Cat5–Cat8)
Compare Cat5 through Cat8 and find the lowest cable that meets your speed and distance.
What it does: Look up the bandwidth, speed, distance, and shielding of each Ethernet cable category, and get the lowest one that fits your link.
When to use it: When wiring a network, buying patch cables, or deciding between Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a, and Cat8.
Choose a target speed and run distance to get the lowest category that meets both. Higher bandwidth (MHz)? generally means a higher supported data rate.
MEANS —
No history yet. Each calculation is automatically saved to this device.
How to use the cable category reference
Set target speed → set distance → read the recommended category.
- 01
Set your target speed
Pick the link speed you need — 100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps, or 40 Gbps. This is the throughput the cable must support end to end.
- 02
Set the run distance
Enter how long the cable run is, in metres. Distance matters: Cat6 reaches 10 Gbps only up to about 55 m, and Cat8 is limited to 30 m, so a longer run may force a higher category.
- 03
Read the recommended category
The tool returns the lowest category that meets your speed at that distance. Use the full table below to compare bandwidth, shielding, and notes before buying.
Ethernet cable categories at a glance
Speeds and distances are per TIA-568 (Cat5e–Cat8) and ISO/IEC 11801 (Cat7/7a). Channel max distance is 100 m unless noted.
| Category | Bandwidth | Max speed | Max distance | Shielding | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cat5 | 100 MHz | 100 Mbps | 100 m | UTP | Fast Ethernet; deprecated. |
| Cat5e | 100 MHz | 1 Gbps | 100 m | UTP | Most common legacy 1G cable. |
| Cat6 | 250 MHz | 1 Gbps (10 Gbps ≤ ~55 m) | 100 m (55 m @ 10G) | UTP/F-UTP | 10G only over short runs. |
| Cat6a | 500 MHz | 10 Gbps | 100 m | UTP/F-UTP | 10G to full 100 m. |
| Cat7 | 600 MHz | 10 Gbps | 100 m | S/FTP (shielded) | ISO Class F; GG45/TERA, not TIA-recognized. |
| Cat7a | 1000 MHz | 10 Gbps | 100 m | S/FTP | ISO Class FA. |
| Cat8 | 2000 MHz | 25/40 Gbps | 30 m | S/FTP | Data-center short links. |
TIA-568 / ISO/IEC 11801 plus well-documented common cabling specs.
Common questions, answered in 3 minutes
Cat6 or Cat6a for 10 Gigabit Ethernet?
Cat6 only carries 10 Gbps over short runs (roughly 55 m, and only with alien-crosstalk mitigation); over a full 100 m channel it is limited to 1 Gbps. Cat6a supports 10 Gbps for the full 100 m. For any 10G run longer than about 50 m, choose Cat6a.
Is Cat7 / Cat7a worth it?
Cat7 and Cat7a are ISO/IEC classes (F and FA), not TIA-568 categories, and they often use non-RJ45 connectors (GG45/TERA). For most installations Cat6a delivers the same 10 Gbps at 100 m with standard RJ45 hardware, so Cat6a or Cat8 is usually the more practical choice.
Does cable category affect Power over Ethernet (PoE)?
PoE rides on the same conductors regardless of data category, so all of these (Cat5e and up) can carry PoE. Higher categories with thicker conductors and better shielding handle PoE heat and high-power modes (PoE++/802.3bt) more comfortably, but the category itself does not set the PoE class.
UTP vs shielded (S/FTP) — which do I need?
Unshielded (UTP) is fine for most homes and offices and is cheaper and easier to terminate. Shielded (F-UTP, S/FTP) helps in electrically noisy environments (industrial, lots of EMI) and for the highest speeds, but it requires proper grounding to be effective.
Standards and sources referenced by this tool
| Item | Value / Formula | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cat5e–Cat8 | TIA-568 | TIA |
| Cat7 / Cat7a (Class F / FA) | ISO/IEC 11801 | ISO/IEC |
Speeds and distances are per the standards and common practice; actual performance depends on installation quality, connectors, and environment — refer to the cabling standard as authoritative.