Summary Points
U.S. cabling standards are published by the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and the Electronic Industries Association (EIA). ISO/IEC standards are used in other parts of the world.
A category number is a standard rating that is applied to an entire cabling system, which in addition to cable runs, includes outlets, patch cords, panels, connectors, and cross-connect blocks.
There are seven currently defined categories of unshielded twisted-pair cable, numbered 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5E, and 6. A higher number corresponds to better-quality cable.
Most of the installed base of cable is Category 5 or Category 3. Category 5E and 6 are appropriate for gigabit speeds.
An American Wire Gauge (AWG) value is the inverse of the thickness ...
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