How do I choose between Cat 5e vs. Cat 6 Cabling?
If you are moving your business or upgrading technology, you might be trying to decide what type of phone and computer cabling to use. Do you put in Category 5e (Cat 5e) or Cat 6? ComRes recently installed cabling infrastructure for AmOne Financial and eReceivables. Both companies faced this decision and each chose a different standard based on their needs.
Cat 5e vs. Cat 6 cabling
Why Cat 5e? Cat 5e is an older standard supporting 100 Mb LAN connections. It works well for most applications including VoIP, cloud connectivity, etc. Since most technology is moving to the cloud (such as VoIP and many applications), and most people do not have an Internet connection that exceeds, 100 Mb, Cat 5e is fine for most customers.
Why Cat 6? Cat 6 is a newer standard that supports up to 1 Gb LAN connections. This may be needed if you have a lot of devices on your LAN that need the highest speed connections to an on-site server. The cost for this cable has come down substantially, however, and in some cases Cat 6 is only about $10/cable run more than Cat 5e, so customers install it anyway to prepare for any possible future need. Cat 6 is also used in cases where customers feel more comfortable if they are planning on installing only 1 cable run to be shared by voice and data.
ComRes installs only the highest quality cabling to ensure you get the best value no matter which standard you choose. ComRes recommends and installs brand-name US-made cable such as Mohawk, Black Box and others since they are close to the cost of many off-shore solutions and tend to have a higher rate of passing quality testing.
