What is Cat5 / Cat5e

Category 5 cable is a twisted pair high signal integrity cable type often referred to as Cat5 or Cat-5. Most cables are unshielded, relying on the twisted pair design for noise rejection, and some are shielded. Category 5 has been superseded by the Category 5e specification structured cabling for computer networks such as Ethernet, and is also used to carry many other signals such as basic voice services, token ring, and ATM (at up to 155 Mbit/s, over short distances).

Solid core Cable vs Stranded Cable

Solid core cable is supposed to be used for long permanently installed runs. It is less flexible than stranded and more prone to failure if repeatedly flexed. Stranded cable is used for fly leads at patch panel and for connections from wall-ports to end devices, as it resists cracking of the conductors. Stranded core is generally more expensive than solid core.

Connectors need to be designed differently for solid core than for stranded. Use of a connector with the wrong cable type is likely to lead to unreliable cabling. Plugs designed for solid and stranded core are readily available, and some vendors even offer plugs designed for use with both types. The punch-down blocks on patch-panel and wall port jacks are designed for use with solid core cable.

The maximum specified distance for Cat5 cable is 100m. This allows for 10m of stranded cable at either end. Solid core has less attenuation than stranded cable, so a switch-to-switch link of solid cable, where the only connections are cable-plug-switch at either end can be significantly longer than 100m in practice. Experiments show that the practical limit is around 200m for 100 Mb/s. 1000Mb/s is intermittent at 200 m. These distances are partially dependent on the individual switches.