What are category 1234 and 5 twisted pair wire used for?

Answer 1

The purposes for Category 1,2,3,4,5,5e,6, and 7 twisted pair wire are: CAT 1 - Is standard telephone wire and was disigned to carry analog voice or digital data at low speeds (less than or equal to 9600 bps). CAT 2 - Is also used for telephone circuits but is a higher-quality wire than Category 1, producing less noise and signal attenuation. CAT 3 - Is deisigned to transmit 10 Mbps of data over a local area network for distances up to 100 meters (328 feet). CAT 4 - Is designed to transmit 20 Mbps of data for distances up to 100 meters. CAT 5 - Was designed to transmit 100 Mbps of data for distances up to 100 Meters and has a higher number of twists per inch and is manufactured with higher-quality materials than the Category 1 to 4 wires, and introduces less noise. CAT 5e - Is similar to Category 5's in that this wire is also recommended for transmissions of 100 Mbps (100 MHz) for 100 meters. CAT 6 - Is designed to support data transmission with signals as high as 200 MHz for 100 meters. CAT 7 - Is just beginning to appear in Europe and North America. Category 7 wire is designed to support 600 MHz of bandwidth for 100 meters.

Answer 2

Since you asked what they are used for, and did not ask what they are made from, here goes: Cat 1 (an informal term) - telephones, doorbells, burglar alarms, thermostats and ISDN. Cat 2 (also informal) - 4 Mbit Token Ring networks Cat 3 (official rating) - 10 Mbit ethernet Cat 4 (informal) - 16 Mbit token ring Cat 5 (informal) - 100 Mbit ethernet Cat 5e (The official term for rated cable) - 100 Mbit ethernet and 1000 Mbit, or 1 Gigabit. Note that only Cat 3 and Cat 5e are officially rated by EIA and it's spinoff TIA. Any wire will work with a lower service (Cat 5, say, will do everything Cat 4 will do), so many buildings are wired with just Cat 5e, since it reduces the inventory that the builder needs to carry. A lower rated wire, especially those with informal ratings may look the same electrically, but may have nonstandard insulation colors, etc. Also, there may be additional ratings, such as fire resistance, or ability to bend around corners, that are not covered by ratings. In a given city, or under a given building code, tighter restrictions may apply.