Cat5e Ethernet Cable vs Cat6 Ethernet Cable vs Cat6a Ethernet Cable

The three cables almost every real wiring decision comes down to, arranged in increasing order of headroom, price and stiffness.

Cat 5e is the cheapest and the most flexible. It carries gigabit and 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet across a full 100 metres, which is enough for most homes and for the current generation of access points, and it terminates easily. It cannot carry 10 Gigabit at any length.

Cat 6 adds 10 Gigabit capability, but only across 55 metres, and its bandwidth rating sits halfway to the next tier. In a house that means 10 Gigabit between rooms is possible and 10 Gigabit across a large building is not; 5 Gigabit runs the full distance. It costs a little more and pulls a little harder.

Cat 6a is the do-it-once option. It carries 10 Gigabit across the full 100 metres, it is specified for alien crosstalk between bundled cables, and it is the normal choice for structured cabling in offices and for PoE lighting. It is the thickest and stiffest of the three, which shows in tight conduit and small wall boxes.

The trap is to treat this as a ladder where higher is always better. For a patch cord behind a desk, the three are interchangeable. For cable inside walls, the decision is about how long the runs are and whether 10 Gigabit will ever be wanted on them: Cat 5e for short runs on a gigabit or 2.5 Gigabit network, Cat 6 for a home that might want 10 Gigabit between nearby rooms, Cat 6a for anything that will be hard to replace later. Wall cable is expensive to redo; patch cable is not.