Cat5e vs Cat6 vs Cat6a - Which one serves your gaming needs best?

The one thing that gamers need most and prioritize is uninterrupted connectivity. As the gaming industry evolves, the need for uninterrupted and lightning-fast connectivity has increased more than ever. Be it your super-powered PC, the latest laptop or mobile, or high-end console, if you want to compete competitively, you need uninterrupted connectivity. This connectivity can be achieved either via wired network -- with Cat6 Cable, Cat6a Cable, and Cat5e Cable -- or via the wireless network. 

But wireless connectivity has its fair share of issues. Household items like furniture and walls, the distance of the router from your device, the number of connections, and several other factors take a toll on data transfer speed, and hence, you can’t enjoy seamless connectivity. Voila! Ethernet cables are here to save your day. 

The three most commonly used Ethernet cables these days are Cat5e Cable, Cat6 Cable, and Cat6a Cable. Let’s explore key features of each to find out which ethernet cable is the best solution for your gaming needs. 

Cat5e Ethernet Cable

This is the 5th generation ethernet cable and “e” in the Cat5e represents “enhanced”. This cable offers an impressive data transfer speed of 1Gbps up to a length of 50 meters or 164 feet and 100Mbps up to a distance of 328 feet or 100 meters. Here at Smartech Cables, our Cat5e cable exceeds bandwidth standards as it offers a bandwidth capacity of 350MHz. The inner structure comprises 8 pure copper conductors that are tightly bundled together for enhanced connectivity and the purpose of protection against crosstalk and prevent EMI. 

As far as its conductors are concerned, they come in both pure copper and copper-clad aluminum. For gaming purposes, we recommend you go with pure copper conductors. 

The Cat5e Networking Cable supports the following applications: ATM PMD 155 Mbps IEEE 802.3 Fast Ethernet:10 Base-T, ANSI X3T9.5 TP-PMD (FDDI), IEEE 802.12:100 Base-VG, and 100 Base-T4, 100 Base-X IEEE 802.5:4/16 Mbps Token Ring. 

Cat6 Ethernet Cable

As the term itself suggests, Cat6 cable is the 6th generation Ethernet cable that comes with data transfer rates of 10 Gbps and 1Gbps over distances of up to 50-meters/164-feet and 100-meters/328-feet. The cable comes with an enhanced bandwidth capacity of 550MHz; it means not only do you enjoy lightning-fast data transfer rates but also the quality of signal remains intact over longer distances. 

Like its predecessor, it too has 8 conductors made of pure copper or copper-clad aluminum and is bundled together in 4 twisted pairs. To give top-notch protection against crosstalk and to prevent EMI, we have walked an extra mile by employing a spline that separates all 4 twisted pairs from each other.  

This cable supports high-speed applications such as IEEE 802.3af (PoE) / 802.3an 10GBASE-T. 

Cat6a Ethernet Cable 

The Cat6a Cable is also a sixth-generation cable but its performance has been augmented by increasing data transfer rates; this is exactly what “a” in the term Cat6a refers to. This cable supports 10 Gbps data transfer rates over a distance of 100 meters or 328 feet with an enhanced bandwidth capacity of 750 MHz. Amazing! Isn’t it? 

The cable comes with 8 conductors of either pure copper or copper-clad aluminum that are tightly bundled together. 

This cable supports the following applications: PoE 802.3af, 802.3at, 802.3bt (Type 3, Type 4), 802.3an, 802.3bz, 802.3ab, 802.3u, 10Gb High-Speed Applications, HDBase-T A & B, 10 Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3an), 5 Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3bz), 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3bz), Gigabit Ethernet (IEEE 802.3ab), and 100W PoE++ (IEEE 802.3bt Type 4).

Other Cat6 cables achieve greater crosstalk protection through a tighter twisting of the wires within them, while others employ shielding on individual wires. These cables will be sold with different acronyms to help differentiate them. "S" for shielded, "F" for foil wrapping (for additional noise protection), and "U" for unshielded.

Now that you have a deep peep into the characteristics of each cable, let’s find out which one is the best for you. 

Cat5e vs Cat6 vs Cat6a - Which one serves your gaming needs best?

We will recommend you go with Cat6a ethernet cable as it offers lightning-data transfer rates and comes with a more than impressive bandwidth capacity of 750MHz. This amazing cable is not only backward compatible but will also future-proof your network for ages. 

To buy the best Cat6a ethernet cable at market competitive prices, you can always rely on Smartech Cables. We take the issue of connectivity extremely seriously. Because of this seriousness, all of our products meet industry standards and exceed them by a wide margin. The cherry on the top? Our high-quality ethernet cables come at market competitive prices and we offer free shipping across the USA on orders worth $100 or more. 

In case you need any further help or information, you can reach out to us at [email protected]. Our team will be more than happy to assist you. Rest assured, when you buy ethernet cables from us, you get the best value for your hard-earned money.