Gigabit Ethernet is part of the Ethernet family of computer networking and communication standards. The Gigabit Ethernet standard supports a theoretical maximum data rate of 1gigabit per second (Gbps) (1000 Mbps).What Kind of Cables are Required to Support Gigabit Ethernet?When first developed, some thought achieving gigabit speeds with Ethernet would require using fiber optic or other special network cable technology. The 1000BASE-X cabling standards support Ethernet over fiber.However, today's Gigabit Ethernet works well using twisted pair copper cable (specifically, the CAT5e and CAT6 cabling standards) similar to older 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet (that works over CAT5 cables). These cable types follow the 1000BASE-T cabling standard.How Fast is Gigabit Ethernet in Practice?Because of factors like network protocol overhead and re-transmissions due to collisions or other transient failures, devices cannot actually transfer useful message data at the full 1 Gbps (equal to 125 megabytes per

The Category 6a, or Cat6a, cable is the latest iteration of Gigabit Ethernet cabling. The a stands for "augmented" and is a nod to Cat6a's improved specifications compared with its predecessor, the Category 6, or Cat6 cable.The Cat6a doubles data transmission bandwidth, from 250 to 500 MHz; decreases the chance of crosstalk interference; and provides superior reliability and transmission speeds through greater lengths of cable. Unlike most Cat6 cables, Cat6a cables are also often shielded, making them ideal for industrial use where additional interference may be a concern.How to Identify Cat6 and Cta6a CablesCat6 and Cat6a cables have their identifiers printed on the cable jacket itself — Category 6 or Category 6a, respectively. Another quick way to tell the two cables apart is to note that Cat6a cables are much thicker and bulkier than Cat6 cables.========Appearance of Cat6 cable (black) vs. Cat6a cable (blue). Bottom image displays the additional shielding typically found within the

The Category 7 cable standard has been created to allow 10 Gigabit Ethernet over 100 m of copper cabling. Shielding has been added for individual wire pairs and the cable as a whole. Besides the shield, the twisting of the pairs and number of turns per unit length increases RF shielding and protects from crosstalk.

Cat6 cables, also called Category 6 or Cat 6 cables, provide lower crosstalk, a higher signal-to-noise ratio, and are suitable for 10GBASE-T (10-Gigabit Ethernet), while Cat5e cables support only up to 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet). As a means of future-proofing your network, Cat6 is generally a better choice and worth the small premium in price. Cat5e and Cat6 cables are both backwards compatible, which means newer Cat6 cables can be used with older Cat5e, Cat5 and even Cat3 equipment.