cat5 cat5e cat6 ????

[ncmavtgun]

just wondering whats the difference btw
cat5, cat5e, cat6???
which is the best?

i currently run cable modem with 760down/130up
with linksys 4 port router w/2 computers networked together...

also if someone can suggest the best brand of network card (10/100) ?

is there a difference between the cheap $10 ones and the more expensive ones.

[skuz]

3com makes excellent NICs.

Of course there is a difference between 10$ cheap NICs and 40$ or more.

Buffer size comes to mind, collision avoidance system, noise reduction...

[fishninja007]

CAT5 is normal ethernet UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable. It is 4 twisted pairs of copper wire with RJ45 jacks on the end. The 5 in CAT5 means it has 5 twists every inch. The more twists the less interference between each wire so it can support higher data rates. CAT3 used to be common (when ethernet was all 10Mbps) although now it is pretty much no longer used. CAT5 supports up to 1000Mbps.

I haven't heard of cat5e or cat6. Presumably cat6 would have more twists and could support faster data, but since cat5 supports gigabit speed I don't see any reason to drop extra dough on something else.

[DougM]

Actually Cat5 may not support gigabit but cat5e should.
My understanding is that Cat5 had a few optional standards, in Cat5e those standards are not optional.

I also believe the largest differeence is Cat5 is typically rated to 100MHz whereas Cat5e specifies 350MHz. Last I heard Cat6 and Cat 7 where still not finalized as standards although some manufactures are selling products that they claim are Cat6, basing that on what they believe the standards will be.

This link defines them:
http://www.csp.com/html/tech_library/cable_cat_def/cablecat_def.html

[Nightblade]

I love it Cat5/Cat5e, all a scam provided by the cable manufacturers. Just kills me! Buy 24 ga Cat 3 and save yourself tons of cash over 26ga CAT5e,

Just consider 24 ga CAT3 oc'd cable alot less resistance/ft cheaper yet go find Romax if you re worried about your speeds

CAT(6 or whatever) probably will never make it since Fiber is getting cheaper

My favorite story is this clown that spent over a $1k rewiring his brand new house ftom CAT5 to CAT5e, and he didnt even have a broadband connection just wanted to speed up his dial-up on 1 computer.

just remember to think "inside of the box"

[gr8vfr]

I Firmly believe that 3Com 905series NICs are the best.
They are easy to install drivers and they run great for years.

As for home networks...
I have gobs of money dumped into my home network.
I have a 10mb network.I use plenum grade Cat5 and multimode fiber.
The reason I only have a 10mb network is cost.
A lot of the fiber converters were leftovers when I went to 100mb at work.
I have cat5 in the house and 150 feet of buried fiber acroos the yard to my garage.

I do have broadband internet into a Cisco 2621, then into a 3Com superstack hub.

It is all worth it, too.
Just for the hands on knowledge.
Plus I can show people how most commercial networks are setup.