



If you’re buying a new cable, it’s easy to get the right kind. The latest generation, CAT8, can hit 40,000 Mbps at a longer span of 131 feet. CAT6 introduced shielding to reduce interference while CAT6a increased the maximum speed to 10,000 Mbps.ĬAT7 cables are the newer generation, reaching up to 100,000 Mbps at a range of 49 feet. CAT5 cables support 100 Mbps while CAT5a maxes out at 1,000 Mbps. Ethernet is the primary type of network connection, but there are seven different “generations” of cable that you might encounter.Ĭategory 5 (CAT5), CAT5e, and CAT6 are the most common Ethernet cables today.
