cat5 vs cat6

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	Question by Mino Christante posted 27 Oct 2007
	cat5 vs cat6
It seems like cat6 is ignored and cat5 is used. In what circumstances would cat6 be preferred? How much more traffic can cat6 handle?
	Answer by Dmitri Abaimov posted 19 Dec 2007
Dear Mino, I would not say CAT6 is ignored but its application is undergoing some considerable changes right now with the advent of 10 Gigabit Ethernet. That is roughly 10 times more than what CAT5E can handle. 10G Ethernet is yet to become mainstream networking protocol and therefore we do not see CAT6 being as widely spread as CAT5E is. Just be careful about what kind of CAT6 you are talking about: the standard has evolved in order to support the full 100 meter length of the cabling channel. It is better to refer to it as CAT6 augmented since it's a better cable / better components than what you could buy back in late 90's when CAT6 was first introduced. Sincerely, Dmitri Abaimov, RCDD
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