If you’ve been browsing Ethernet cables online you may have seen that they come with names like CAT 5, CAT 6, CAT 7, and CAT 8. And no, we’re not talking about the feline kind of CAT…meow!

Start with the speed of your home internet connection. If you have gigabit internet (1Gbps), an old Ethernet cord like a Cat 5 cable, will hold you back. If you have a slower connection ...

Product Features High Performance Internet cable is Cat5e rated; The Ethernet cord with 24 AWG copper wire provides universal connectivity for LAN network components such as PCs, computer servers ...

You might have bought some Cat-5 Ethernet cables a few years ago, but as time passes, it’s probably time to think about upgrading them to a more modern, more capable option. Unfortunately ...

However, nowadays, the CAT5e cable is the most common ethernet cable with its many advantages to earlier iterations. This enhanced version of the standard CAT5 cable is likely the one linking the ...

With ethernet, you can determine how new the cable is by looking at the Category (Cat) number. All older ethernet cables (Cat 5 or older) should mostly be ruled out if you’re running a newer ...

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. When it comes to high-speed data transfer, Cat-8 Ethernet cables are the gold standard at present. They're not only the fastest but also ...

For Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE ... yet not many have the test equipment lying around to validate that a ‘Cat-6A’ cable isn’t secretly a barely-Cat-5-cable with CCA conductors.

But choosing between Ethernet cable options is complex, and making the right selection starts with understanding the distinctions between the latest categories of cabling: CAT 6, CAT 7 and CAT 8.

The price difference is minor anyway, and they are backward compatible. I use a 10-foot Amazon Basics Cat 7 Ethernet Cable ($11), which works perfectly for my Gigabit internet connection.

The CAT label in Ethernet cables stands for “category,” which denotes its standard and specification. You can tell which category the cables belong to by the number suffix each one has.

If you’ve been browsing Ethernet cables online you may have seen that they come with names like CAT 5, CAT 6, CAT 7, and CAT 8. And no, we’re not talking about the feline kind of CAT…meow!