Category 2 cable

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Category 2 cable, or simply Cat 2, is a misnomer, probably adopted by those who assumed that TIA set up "Categories" for all types of cables originally defined by Anixter, the distributor, under the grades called "Levels." TIA-568 only recognized cables of Category 3 ratings or above. Anixter "Level 2" was a grade of UTP cable capable of transmitting data at up to 4 Mbit/s. Cat 2 cable was frequently used on ARCnet and 4 Mbit/s token ring networks, but it is no longer commonly used.

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v • d • e Unshielded and shielded twisted pair cabling standards

Cat 1: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Previously used for POTS telephone communications, ISDN and doorbell wiring. Cat 2: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Previously was frequently used on 4 Mbit/s token ring networks. Cat 3: Currently defined in TIA/EIA-568-B, used for data networks using frequencies up to 16 MHz. Historically popular for 10 Mbit/s Ethernet networks. Cat 4: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Provided performance of up to 20 MHz, and was frequently used on 16 Mbit/s token ring networks. Cat 5: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Provided performance of up to 100 MHz, and was frequently used on 100 Mbit/s Ethernet networks. May be unsuitable for 1000BASE-T gigabit ethernet. Cat 5e: Currently defined in TIA/EIA-568-B. Provides performance of up to 100 MHz, and is frequently used for both 100 Mbit/s and 1000BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet networks. Cat 6: Currently defined in TIA/EIA-568-B. Provides performance of up to 250 MHz, more than double category 5 and 5e. Cat 6a: Currently defined in ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2-10. Provides performance of up to 500 MHz, double that of category 6. Suitable for 10GBase-T. Cat 7: An informal name applied to ISO/IEC 11801 Class F cabling. This standard specifies four individually-shielded pairs (STP) inside an overall shield. Provides performance of up to 600 MHz. Cat 7a: An informal name applied to Amendment 1 of ISO/IEC 11801 Class F cabling. Provides performance of up to 1000 MHz. Suitable for 40 Gigabit Ethernet.

See also: TIA/EIA-568-B • Ethernet • 8P8C • Ethernet crossover cable • Twisted pair