cat6 cables

Cabling-Design.com FREE cabling and networking Helpdesk

	Question by Vaibhav Aggarwal posted 15 Feb 2007
	cat6 cables
when we use all wires of cat6 cable to get 1 gigabit speed, then all 8 wires support bidirectional flow. what is bidirectional flow.....? can we get higher speed by using cat 6 cables if yes than how?
	Answer by Dmitri Abaimov posted 15 Feb 2007
Dear Vaibhav, Bidirectional means that the same pair of wires can be both transmitting and receiving signals. It is done to split the 1Gb/s data bandwidth into four 250Mb/s channels which is more manageable and requires less signal frequency. You should be able to get 1Gbit/s Ethernet working on a CAT5E cable. If you go for CAT6 instead, you'll have a benefit of being able to run 10Gbit/s Ethernet but you should be careful choosing the solution because not every CAT6 cabling system sold since 1999 is going to support full 100 meter length of the link. Only newer systems (sometimes called CAT6 augmented) will support the full length. On top of that confusion there is the fact that most manufacturers still produce both older (regular) and newer (augmented) CAT6 solutions, so you really should be looking at the cabling system's specifications when buying it with 10Gbit/s Ethernet in mind. Sincerely, Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
Click here to see the expert's profile

Back to the current page of questions | Back to all the questions

Back to Cabling-Design.com HELPDESK | Ask your question