LAN

Local Area Network (LAN): Local Area Network (LAN) is a computer network, which is limited to a small office, single building, multiple buildings inside a campus etc.

The UTP(unshielded twisted pair) cable categorise in following section:

• CAT 1: CAT 1 cable is also called a level 1 cable or category 1 cable. It is a UTP cable mainly use for transferring voice data in a telephonic communication.
• CAT 2: CAT 2 cable is also called a category 2 cable. It is use for both telephone and communication and the transmit data at the rate of up to 4 Mbps. Further, it consists of 4 to 8 pairs of cables used in a token ring network.
• CAT 3: CAT 3 cable is also called as category 3 cable or station wire. It is used for both voice and data communication and is an Ethernet copper cable that has 4 UTP wires and can transmit data at a rate of up to 10 Mbps. It is used in token ring and 10BASE-T.
• CATE 4: CAT 4 cable is also called as category 4 cable. It is a twisted pair cable which can be used in a token ring network and can transfer data at a rate of up to 16 Mbps.
• CAT 5: CAT 5 cable is also called as Category 5 cables. It is a standard Ethernet network cable that has four twisted pairs of copper wire. Further, it supports data transmission speed up to 100 Mbps. However, the transmission range of CAT 5 cables is limited to 100 metres only.
• CAT 5e: CAT 5e is an enhanced version of CAT 5 cable. It was officially launched in 2001 by the EIA/TIA. The data transmission speed of CAT 5e is much faster as compared to CAT 5 cables. In addition, it supports data transfer speed up to 1000 Mbps (1Gbps) and provides transmission range of 100 metres and bandwidth of 100 MHz.
• CAT 6: CAT 6 cable is also called as Category 6 and provides data transmission speed up to 10 Gbps. Further, it can also be used with CAT 5 and CAT 5e standard. Further ahead, it provides a transmission range of 100 metres and bandwidth up to 250 MHz. In addition, it consists of four twisted pairs of copper cable where each pair contributes to achieve a higher level of performance. However, the cost of CAT 6 cables is much higher as compared to CAT 5 and CAT 5e cables.
• CAT 6a: CAT 6a cables have twice the data transmission bandwidth compared to CAT 6 cables. Maximum bandwidth of CAT 6a cable is 500 Hz whereas in CAT 6 it is 250 Hz. Further, CAT 6 can transfer data at a rate of 10 Gbps over 33-35 metres of cable. However, CAT 6a can transfer data at a rate of 10 Gbps over 100 metres of cable.
• CAT 7: CAT 7 cable is also called as category 7 cable. It has four twisted pair cables and can transfer data at a rate of 10000 Mbps. Cat 7 is used in both Ethernet as well as Gigabit Ethernet.
• Plenum Cable: Plenum cable is used for air conditioning in a building between the structural ceiling and suspended ceiling. In plenum cable, fire-redundant coating is used so that in case of fire it does not emit toxic gases or smoke.
• PVC: PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) is a common type of plastic cable insulation. It is used for various purpose and is available in various sizes and colours. It is made up of thermoplastic polymer and can be used for insulation of wires and cables.

Speeds are:

Cat5e – 1gbps at 100 meters
Cat6 – 1gbps at 100 meters, 10 gbps at 50 meters
Cat6a – 10 gbps at 100 meters
Cat7 – 10 gbps at 100 meters, 40 gbps at 50 meters
Cat 8 – 40 gbps at 100 meters

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