The group of cables surrounding your computer or workstation is most likely composed of category cables, or Cat cables. These cables have various data transmitting capacities, ranging from the minimal traffic to the bandwidth-intensive amount of 100 GbE. Learn to differentiate one from the other so that you can do some minor troubleshooting when you have connection issues.
Identify the Cable
Category 5 cables, nicknamed Cat5, are cable types designed to carry data from one computer center to another. To check what specific type of cable you have in your hands, look at the printed siding, which will indicate the type of category to which your cable is compliant. Category cables have various data transmission limits, starting from 10 MbE (megabit Ethernet) to 1000 GbE (gigabit Ethernet). Category 5 cables deal with the 10 to 1000 MbE range. Cat5 cables are also differentiated by the type of material used to make them, such as the PVC type (emits poisonous smoke while burning) or PLENUM type (more expensive but safer type).
