Cat-5 and Cat-6 wiring allows you to connect up to 4 telephone numbers to one jack, since there are 4 pairs in the cable.
They're different kinds of wire. A CAT5 wire will not handle the same bandwidth as CAT6, so in that sense, they're not "compatible." However, you can use CAT6 wire in applications where CAT5 is called for, since CAT6 is "better" than CAT5.
Yes. cat6 is low voltage / signal wire.
The most obvious difference is their transfer capability. CAT5 has four pairs of twisted copper wire and supports up to 100m of Fast Ethernet (100Mbps) transfers. Although CAT5 has four twisted pairs, it only makes use of two pairs. CAT6 also has four pairs of twisted copper wire which supports Gigabit Ethernet (1000 Mbps) of up to 100m. Unlike CAT5, CAT6 takes advantage of all four pairs. CAT6 has a 2x transfer rate compared to CAT5 but due to the higher price tag of CAT6.
They are not interchangeable in all circumstances. CAT5 is for 10/100 Ethernet and Cat6 can go all the way to 10Gig Ethernet over short distances. The specs are tighter for CAT6 than for CAT5 and the frequencies are higher and more complex.
CAT6 cables do provide better signal strength and bandwith than CAT5, but for most purposes CAT5e will work just as well and be cheaper.
Cat5 is rated for 10Mbit operation. Cat5e rated for 100Mbit, and Cat6 rated for 1000Mbit
CAT5 or CAT6
cat5, cat6, utp, stp cables etc.
CAT5 or CAT6. CAT6 is becoming the standard because it is rated for 1Gbps and faster speeds.
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cat5,cat5e $ cat6
CAT 5 cables are recommended for Ethernet connections up to 100 mbit. CAT6 are approved for 1000 Mbit (gigabit) Ethernet. If you are installing cables for a network these days, choose CAT6 to ensure future compatibility.