Comparison Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat7: Which Cable is Right for Your Business?

It seems like a technological jungle out there when you look at the options available for that network cabling installation service your company needs. With choices such as Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat7 having another thing to offer your house network, what are the differences between them that make you feel that it is great for business purposes? We are going to break it all down and help you make the decision fun again!

First Thing First The Cats In Question

With that covered, let us go straight to the point and understand what makes these cables so much different than your regular ones.

• Cat5e (Category 5 enhanced): The most common type of Ethernet cable currently in use for businesses, using this instead. It is very dependable, making it ideal for companies that need consistent performance on a budget and of small to medium size.
• Cat6 (Category 6): Cat6 is just the next step up from Cat5e, which means faster network performance and higher reliability. This would be good for businesses expecting to scale up their network operations but will not break the bank.
• Cat7 (Category 7): The giga-cat in town The flagship new product aimed for the highest performance with compatibility to next-generation networking technology.

Cat5e is a reliable all-rounder, just like that buddy who always has your back. This is good for speeds up to 1 Gbps (Gigabit per second) and bandwidths of up to stable 100 MHz. All this is more than sufficient for a large number of small businesses. Cat5e: If your operations run to emailing, browsing, and file sharing then Cat5e is what you are looking for. Cost-effectiveness is one of the main benefits that you will enjoy with Cat5e. Many businesses turn to it when they need a network up easy and cheap without the fuss. And, since Cat5e is backward compatible with older systems, you can upgrade your network to the speed and performance of 1000Base-T while using your current setup. If you have a growing business, and if you’re even the slightest bit concerned that your bandwidth needs may be increasing in the future then opting for Cat6 is still not out of the question.

Cat6: The Future-Proof

Cat6 is the cable that companies lie to call it a future-proof. Designed for higher capacity applications supporting speeds up to 10 Gbps and bandwidths up to 250 MHz. If you are beginning to get into video conferencing, good cloud computing services, or streaming Cat6 is a go. Cat6 even does a better job of crosstalk reduction (Alien Crosstalk) which is the interference between wires in different pairs inside the cable. That results in a more consistent and dependable connection — imperative for businesses where network performance is the definition of life or death. It does depend slightly upon the market, but generally speaking, buying Cat6 is only going to be a fraction more than what you would end up paying for Cat5e — and it pays off long term. Most people don’t move often so pay extra today and avoid upgrading in 3 years!

No, That Would Be Cat7 — A Tech Powerhouse

Cat7 can handle higher bandwidths of up to 600 MHz and support blazing-fast speeds that reach a staggering 10 Gbps over longer lengths than Cat6. It is also shielded, which provides even more protection to reduce any interference for a reliable connection. If you run a large data center, are into media or television, etc., then Cat7 will probably do best for your business. 

But as we all know, along with great power comes great responsibility—well in this case a greater cost. Additionally, these Cat7 cables are usually much more expensive and many routers may not necessarily support their full feature set. Be sure to read the fine print of manufacturer spec sheets but for most small businesses, using Cat7 might be overkill. However, if you are in a niche where every millisecond matters, it might make sense to spend the money/effort.

Choosing The Right Cable

So, for your business which cable will be good? In summary:

• Pick Cat5e if you are a small business with basic networking requirements and on a budget.
• Cat6: Choose Cat6 if you want to plan for your network and need more bandwidth due to increasing demands.
• If you need the utmost performance available (particularly if in a tech-heavy industry), go with Cat7 After all, the best choice for you will depend on your circumstances, needs, and budget as well has what projects/upgrades you plan to do in the future. Overall, consulting with a professionally managed IT support services provider can enable you to understand between the required and not-so-required ones.

Conclusion: Your Network, Your Choice

As one of the less glamorous tasks to handle as you run your business, deciding upon a suitable network cable is likely not towards the top… but it just might be.. In a nutshell, choosing the correct modular cable can mean that whether you are starting or preparing for significant expansion which will allow your business to operate well and productively no matter how many years ahead. Therefore, reflect for a few minutes on what you want now and forever. With a networking cabling installation service, you get the best of any fiber optic cat.