Eurocoms have found in the past 12-18 months that Category 6 (CAT6) cabling is now the most common and requested structured cabling system. CAT6 cabling is designed for optimal support of High-Speed data protocols delivering 1 Gbps performance.
Category 6 (CAT6) cable provides higher performance than CAT5e and features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise.
The quality of the data transmission depends upon the performance of the components of the channel. To transmit according to CAT6 specifications, jacks, patch cables, patch panels, cross-connects, and cabling must all meet CAT6 standards. The CAT6 components are tested individually, and they are also tested together for performance. In addition, the standard calls for generic system performance so that CAT6 components from any vendor can be used in the channel.
CAT6 cable typically comes with a low smoke, zero halogen outer jacket and has four main types;
UTP, STP, S/UTP and S/STP
UTP-STP-SSTP
All shielded cables are the same internally as UTP (4 pairs of copper), but has a metal/foil inside to protect from electrical interference. Shielded cable should typically be be used in Token Ring networks or in Ethernet networks where electrical interference may be a problem.
Visit the Eurocoms UK Ltd website for more information on Professional and fully warranted CAT6 systems