Cat Cable Key Terms

Understand the key terms related to cat cables to make smarter business choices

By Howard Robertson

Cat cables (abbreviation for category cables) are twisted copper wires that are extremely useful for high-speed transmissions of data. These cables come in four major categories, such as Cat-5 cables, Cat-5e cables, Cat-6 cables and Cat-7 cables.

If you want to be a distributor of Cat cables, you will need to understand various technical terms related to their standards, types and specifications. In this guide, we will cover the key terms related to Cat cables, such as EIA/TIA 568 Standard, stranded wire, AWG and Cat-6 cables.

EIA/TIA (Electronics Industries Alliance/Telecommunications Industry Association) 568 standard

The EIA/TIA 568 standard specifies the wiring instructions for the twisted pair cables and RJ-45 connectors.
Try: You can find detailed information about the EIA/TIA standard at The Internet Centre. GlobalSpec also provides information about this standard.

Stranded wires (also known as twisted pairs)

A stranded wire contains a bunch of small wires that are bundled together. This type of wire is used in applications that require flexibility. A stranded wire is mainly used in stranded Cat-6 cables.
Try: You can read through the definition of stranded wire at ZDNet.

AWG (American Wire Gauge)

AWG (also known as B&S or Brown & Sharpe wire gauge) is the standard of measurement for the diameter of the copper, aluminum or other non-ferrous wires.
Try: PowerStream Technology, a Lund Instrument Engineering company, provides detailed information about AWG.

Metric wire gauge

In a metric wire gauge scale, the gauge is 10 times the diameter in millimeters. Thus, a 50-gauge metric wire would have a diameter of 5 mm.
Try: For more information about metric wire gauges, you can browse through an informative website by Timothy A. Bartsch.

Resistance

Resistance is the ability of a wire to oppose the flow of current. The unit of measure for resistance is the ohm.
Try: You can learn more about resistance at Blue Jeans Cable, a reputable cable supplier.

Cable testers

A cable tester is a tool used to diagnose different problems and test the speed of transmission of various Cat cables and the network itself.
Try: For more information on cable testers, browse through Fluke Corporation’s website.

Cat-5 cables

A Cat-5 cable is a type of Ethernet cable. It is made of four pairs of copper wire and has four pins on each end. This type of cable supports computer network speeds up to 100 Mbps.
Try: wiseGEEK provides an informative article about Cat-5 cables. At ertyu.org, you can find detailed instructions about wiring Cat-5 cables.

Cat-6 cables

Like the Cat-5 cable, a Cat-6 cable also uses four pairs of copper wire. But a Cat-6 uses all the four wires to get a speed of almost 1 Gbps, which is twice the speed of a Cat-5 cable.
Try: To learn more about a Cat-6 cable, you can read through the FAQs at Cables Unlimited.