With so many different types of network cables available, wiring your home or an office can be a real challenge. This is mainly due because of the difference between different types of network cables. Although they look similar from the outside, they do have few differences on the inside.The differences between network cables is related to the network standards, what can affect the speed of your network.

Category 5, or just Cat5 network cable, is the most commonly used network cable for smaller office and home networks. When compared with other network cables, Cat5 is a little bit slower. Typically the Cat5 cables are used for Ethernet networks, running at 10Mbps or 100Mbps. You can get gigabit speed with a Category 5 cable if it is shorter, but this is not always guaranteed. Because it is older networking cabling option, it is not as available on the market as newer networking cabling versions.

The Cat6 network cable is faster than the Cat5 networking cabling option. Category 6 is the next improved generation of the Cat5 and Ca5e networking cabling. When it comes to interference, this type of network cable has strict specifications which make this networking cabling alternative capable of 10Gigabit speeds in some cases. The improvements in speed would not make much difference if you need network cables for home network. Because of this, there is no need to upgrade your network with a more expensive Category 6 networking cabling.

So, the big question is which type of network cable you should use? First, you should understand that your Internet speed is not the same as your network speed. If you need to transfer files between computers, gigabite hardware can make the transfer faster, but you will need more than just network cables. You will also need gigabite capable network cards and a router. If you are satisfied with the current speed of your network, then there is no need for upgrades.

However, if you want to increase the speed of your network, the Cat5 network cables can help. You can find Cat5 cables for indoor and outdoor use. They come in wide range of colors and are very convenient and economical option. The Cat6 network cable has a better safety margin, so you don’t need to worry about bandwidth limitations or any other issues. Also, the Cat6 cables are very compatible with Cat5 cables. If you need networking cabling for your company, then you should rely on Cat6 because these cables are the future for data transfer.