What Exactly is Cat6a Cable, and Why is it so Costly?
Cat6a cables are the sixth generation or category of ethernet cables. Cat6a Plenum Cable, Cat6a Riser Cable, and Cat6a PVC Cable are three different types of Cat6 cables available on the market. Let’s take a closer look at the specifications.
Cat6a Cable Data Transfer Rates
Cat6a Ethernet Cable is designed for high-speed applications that require lightning-fast data transfer rates. When the length is up to 100 meters or 328 feet, it provides a data transfer rate of 10 Gbps.
The cable’s bandwidth capacity varies between 550 and 750 MHz (depending on the manufacturer). The signal quality is unaffected by the increased bandwidth, and you can connect without interruption.
Etymology
The Cat in Cat6a stands for the category, while 6 denotes generation and a denotes enhanced. Cat6a stands for category 6th enhanced ethernet cable.
Cat6a cable comes in the following varieties:
- Cat6a Plenum Cable
- Cat6a Riser Cable
- Cat6a PVC Cable
Let’s take a closer look at each type.
Cat6a Plenum Cable
The CMP jacket on the Cat6a Plenum Cable is top-notch. This CMP jacket is fire resistant and prevents the spread of flames. During the burning process, the Cat6a Plenum Cable emits no toxicity, such as smoke or other dangerous substances. Because the CMP jacket is UV-resistant, you can use this cable in both riser and outdoor environments. There is no provision in the plan to run PVC-rated ethernet cables or risers in plenum spaces due to safety reasons.Cat6a plenum cable has data speeds and bandwidth of 10 Gbps and 750 MHz, respectively.
Cat6a Riser Cable
The Cat6a Riser Cable is protected with a CRM-rated outer jacket that is fire-resistant and UV-resistant. The Cat6a Riser Cable is designed to be run in vertical or riser areas of buildings, as the name implies. When these wires come into contact with fire, they stop it from spreading and release very little smoke and no harmful gases.
This cable’s data transmission speeds and bandwidth capacity are respectively 10 Gbps and 750 MHz.
Cat6a PVC Cable
The Cat6a PVC cable is designed for use in outdoor applications. The PVC outer jacket is UV-resistant, and the thickness provides protection against severe weather.
Cat6a PVC cable has data transfer speeds of 10 Gbps and a bandwidth capacity of 750 MHz, respectively.
Conductors for Cat6a Cable
Pure copper and copper-clad aluminum conductors are available in Cat6a cable. Pure copper conductors are considerably superior to copper-clad aluminum conductors in terms of overall performance. When it comes to signal attenuation, pure copper cables have less attenuation, whereas copper-clad aluminum cables have more. Pure copper cables, on the other hand, convert more energy into signals and less into heat, whereas copper-clad aluminum cables do the exact reverse.
Shielded vs Unshielded Cat6a Cable
Some manufacturers add an extra layer of protection around individual twisted pairs or all four twisted pairs combined to protect conductors from components that mess with signals like crosstalk and electromagnetic interference. Shielded Twisted Pair cables consist of twisted pairs of ethernet cables covered in shields. Unshielded twisted pair cables are ethernet cables that do not have any additional layers of protection. The cost of STP cables is substantially higher than that of UTP cables for everyday use.
There is another form of Cat6a cable, termed direct burial Cat6a cable, in addition to Cat6a Plenum Cable, Cat6a Riser Cable, and Cat6a PVC cable.
The Cat6a cable for direct burial includes an LLDPE-rated jacket and a gel-filled core. These two characteristics render these cables entirely watertight and resistant to germs and other bio-organisms. LLDPE-rated ethernet cables have the same data rates as standard ethernet connections, i.e. 10 Gbps data transfer rate and 550 MHz bandwidth capacity.
Usually, the Cat6a cable meets the following standards:
FCC
CE
CSE
ISO/IES
Cat6a cables must also comply with RoHS. ETL-Listed and UL-Listed certifications are available for the Cat6a cable in terms of safety standards. Cat6a Riser Cable ETL-Listed Ethernet cables are fully safe to install since they exceed severe safety regulations. It depends on many factors, including jacket type, STP or UTP conductors, and certifications.