[Randall Blanchard]

When is it O.K., to substitute a CAT-6 Ethernet Patch Cable, where a CAT-5E Patch Cable, was in-place ?

[TeamKomando:John]

Hello leftblank15,

Whenever needed it is okay to substitute, CAT-6 can offer higher bandwidth if the run is shorter than 180 ft & your hardware is capable.

You can tap or click here to go over all of the key differences.

[Randall Blanchard]

Is there a difference in resistance, between a CAT-5E, and a CAT-6, and can THAT difference, damage equipment ?

[TeamKomando:John]

Sure there is a difference, however, why don’t you let us know what you are trying to configure or accomplish so we can better assist.

I see you were asking the same question over a year ago, what fun project are you working on?

If you are not using the cable for POE you can expect the cables to be interchangable.

Conductor Size/Resistance
Heat generation can be the result of conductor resistance in PoE applications. To improve conductor resistance, choose a cable with a larger conductor size. A CAT6A cable has a larger conductor size than CAT5e cable, providing less resistance. The greater the conductor size of the cable, the more it can reduce conductor resistance.

[Randall Blanchard]

The usage is just a standard personal modem/router (DOCSYS 3.1) hardwired to single Mac laptop,
with a total length of less-than 14-feet . I don’t believe that that is Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) .

And, by-the-way, whatever happened to the “CAT-5E-Plus” standard ?

[TeamKomando:John]

You have nothing to worry about using Category 6 vs 5, 5e or 5e+ will make no difference or cause any issues in your existing setup.

The plus part is a marketing term, and as time passes new standards come out, they have a Category 8 available these days.

[Randall Blanchard]

My setup, is 1000-Base-T, at 100Mbps, and the sockets are “yellow”, in-color, so I guess that the CAT-5E cables, will do, just fine .

Thank you, very much !

[Randall Blanchard]

Just curious — IF there WERE to be a Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) application, are there heavier cables (special cables), for THAT ?

[Randall Blanchard]

???

[Author]

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