<s>
Category	O
6	O
cable	O
(	O
Cat	O
6	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
standardized	O
twisted	O
pair	O
cable	O
for	O
Ethernet	O
and	O
other	O
network	O
physical	B-Application
layers	I-Application
that	O
is	O
backward	B-General_Concept
compatible	I-General_Concept
with	O
the	O
Category	O
5/5e	O
and	O
Category	B-Protocol
3	I-Protocol
cable	I-Protocol
standards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cat6	B-Protocol
must	O
meet	O
more	O
stringent	O
specifications	O
for	O
crosstalk	O
and	O
system	O
noise	O
than	O
Cat5	O
and	O
Cat5e	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
cable	O
standard	O
specifies	O
performance	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
250MHz	O
,	O
compared	O
to	O
100MHz	O
for	O
Cat5	O
and	O
Cat5e	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whereas	O
Category6	O
cable	O
has	O
a	O
reduced	O
maximum	O
length	O
of	O
when	O
used	O
for	O
10GBASE-T	O
,	O
Category	O
6A	O
cable	O
is	O
characterized	O
to	O
500MHz	O
and	O
has	O
improved	O
alien	O
crosstalk	O
characteristics	O
,	O
allowing	O
10GBASE-T	O
to	O
be	O
run	O
for	O
the	O
same	O
maximum	O
distance	O
as	O
previous	O
Ethernet	B-Protocol
variants	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cat6	B-Protocol
,	O
an	O
unshielded	O
twisted-pair	O
(	O
UTP	O
)	O
design	O
,	O
emerged	O
as	O
an	O
advancement	O
of	O
the	O
UTP	O
Cat5e	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
was	O
formalised	O
in	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
design	O
of	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
required	O
more	O
stringent	O
precision	O
in	O
manufacturing	O
,	O
and	O
this	O
enabled	O
reduced	O
noise	O
and	O
crosstalk	O
,	O
allowing	O
improved	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Telecommunications	O
Industry	O
Association	O
(	O
TIA	O
)	O
published	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
in	O
June	O
2002	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cat6	B-Protocol
cable	O
can	O
be	O
identified	O
by	O
the	O
printing	O
on	O
the	O
side	O
of	O
the	O
cable	O
sheath	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cat6	B-Protocol
patch	O
cables	O
are	O
normally	O
terminated	O
in	O
8P8C	O
modular	O
connectors	O
,	O
using	O
either	O
T568A	O
or	O
T568B	O
pin	O
assignments	O
;	O
performance	O
is	O
comparable	O
provided	O
both	O
ends	O
of	O
a	O
cable	O
are	O
terminated	O
identically	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
Cat6-rated	O
patch	O
cables	O
,	O
jacks	O
and	O
connectors	O
are	O
not	O
used	O
with	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
wiring	O
,	O
overall	O
performance	O
is	O
degraded	O
and	O
may	O
not	O
meet	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
performance	O
specifications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
specification	O
requires	O
conductors	O
to	O
be	O
pure	O
copper	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cat6A	B-Protocol
performance	O
is	O
defined	O
for	O
frequencies	O
up	O
to	O
500MHz	O
—	O
twice	O
that	O
of	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cat6A	B-Protocol
also	O
has	O
an	O
improved	O
alien	O
crosstalk	O
specification	O
as	O
compared	O
to	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
,	O
which	O
picks	O
up	O
high	O
levels	O
of	O
alien	O
noise	O
at	O
high	O
frequencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
amendment	O
defines	O
new	O
specifications	O
for	O
Cat6A	B-Protocol
components	O
and	O
Class	O
EA	O
permanent	O
links	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
new	O
global	O
Cat6A/ClassEA	O
specifications	O
require	O
a	O
new	O
generation	O
of	O
connecting	O
hardware	O
offering	O
far	O
superior	O
performance	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
existing	O
products	O
that	O
are	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
American	O
TIA	O
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
a	O
frequency	O
of	O
500MHz	O
,	O
an	O
ISO/IEC	O
Cat6A	B-Protocol
connector	O
performs	O
3dB	O
better	O
than	O
a	O
Cat6A	B-Protocol
connector	O
that	O
conforms	O
with	O
the	O
EIA/TIA	O
specification	O
(	O
3dB	O
equals	O
50%	O
reduction	O
of	O
near-end	O
crosstalk	O
noise	O
signal	O
power	O
;	O
see	O
half-power	O
point	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
broad	O
terms	O
,	O
the	O
ISO	O
standard	O
for	O
Cat6A	B-Protocol
is	O
the	O
most	O
stringent	O
,	O
followed	O
by	O
the	O
European	O
standard	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
the	O
American	O
(	O
1	O
on	O
1	O
matching	O
capability	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
ratification	O
of	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
,	O
manufacturers	O
began	O
offering	O
cables	O
labeled	O
as	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
intent	O
was	O
to	O
market	O
Cat	O
6e	O
as	O
a	O
pseudo	O
official	O
upgrade	O
to	O
the	O
Category	O
6	O
standard	O
naming	O
it	O
after	O
the	O
Category	B-Protocol
5e	I-Protocol
standard	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Category	B-Protocol
7	I-Protocol
is	O
an	O
ISO	O
standard	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
a	O
TIA	O
standard	O
;	O
it	O
is	O
a	O
shielded	O
cable	O
with	O
newer	O
connectors	O
(	O
GG45	B-Device
or	O
TERA	B-Device
)	O
that	O
are	O
not	O
backward-compatible	B-General_Concept
with	O
category3	O
through	O
6A	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Category	B-Protocol
8	I-Protocol
is	O
the	O
next	O
network	O
cabling	O
offering	O
to	O
be	O
backward	B-General_Concept
compatible	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
used	O
for	O
10/100/1000BASE	O
-T	O
,	O
the	O
maximum	O
allowed	O
length	O
of	O
a	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
cable	O
is	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
10GBASE-T	O
,	O
an	O
unshielded	O
Cat6	B-Protocol
cable	O
should	O
not	O
exceed	O
55	O
meters	O
and	O
a	O
Cat	B-Protocol
6A	I-Protocol
cable	O
should	O
not	O
exceed	O
100	O
meters	O
.	O
</s>
