Your Quick Guide to CAT6A And CAT7 Cabling
CAT6A or CAT7 Cabling for your business network, which is the better solution for your business needs?
It is important for business owners to know every aspect of their business. The more informed and hands-on you are, the better your business will function. A good business owner will know the business inside and out, from how employees carry out their tasks to the type of cabling used in the office’s local network. It’s easy to delegate these responsibilities to employees, but there is value in “learning the ropes” yourself.
For the purposes of this article, we focus on a part of your business you may have overlooked up to now. If you are familiar with this topic, then head to our Contact page to make an appointment with us. If you wish to learn more, keep reading as we discuss local area network (LAN) and Ethernet cabling. More specifically, the CAT6A and CAT7 protocols.
The Similarities and Differences between CAT6A and CAT7
These cables fall under the “twisted-pair cabling” category, which refers to the way they are constructed. Several copper wires are twisted together and then an insulating material is used to bind them. How the cables are twisted not only allows for faster data transmission (compared to single- or dual-setup cables) but also serves a more practical purpose in keeping electromagnetic radiation to a minimum. Almost all cables emit some amount of electromagnetic radiation, with the most common form being heat. There are other cabling types, like stranded and bus cabling that make use of traditionally straight and non-intersecting wires, but those protocols have mostly been abandoned in favour of twisted-pair cabling.
CAT6A and CAT7 are almost identical in the way they function, but they do differ in their capacity to perform that function. Their foremost purpose is to transmit data at high speeds between computers. Their twisted-pair construction allows for a very high volume of data to be transmitted in a very short amount of time in part because multiple twisted wires are used, and in part due to how the insulating material absorbs electromagnetic radiation (which could potentially interfere with data transmission if the cables get too hot).
The designations of CAT6A and CAT7 are generational monikers that refer to a few things: their category (hence the “CAT” abbreviation) or generation, the maximum speeds at which they can transmit data, and the general length of the cables. Simply put, earlier generations tended to have slower speeds and lower data transmission caps, not to mention the cables were shorter. Shorter cables generally need more extensions and can result in an unsightly mess in an otherwise pristine office. Longer cables, which are more prominent in the later generations, are easier to manage.
CAT6A and CAT7 are remarkably similar, as they both have upper data transmission limits of 10 Gbps (gigabits per second) and lengths of up to 100m. That might sound like a lot of cabling, but as soon as you start organising and hiding your cables, you will realise that it’s just enough to account for all the computers in your office. Advancements in cable length are slow, as data can only be transmitted at high speeds over certain lengths without degrading or slowing down.
While CAT6A and CAT7 are similar, CAT6A is generally the preferred standard, while CAT7 is more experimental and less reliable. Conversely, the direct upgrade of CAT6A would be CAT8 and not its predecessor.
Leave It to CCI Technology Solutions to Sort Out
If this information leaves you overwhelmed by the complexities of cabling, then you can leave it to us to untangle and organise. Get in touch with us if you need Ethernet or LAN cabling installed.
