Utility of shielded cat5e cable

Utility of Shielded CAT5E Cable What is a Shielded CAT5E Cable?

CAT 5E cables are the standard connection cables that a computer uses to connect with other computers and the internet. These cables are used to connect all sorts of devices on your network -- routers, modems, computers, printers, servers and more. ‘CAT 5E’ refers to a particular kind of cable which is used for this connection, while 'shielded' means that the signals travelling along the cable reach their destination without being interrupted or distorted.

Is a Shielded CAT5E Cable fast enough for my network?

CAT 5 cables have a bandwidth of 100 MHz. This is more than enough for common domestic purposes. CAT 5 cables can support Gigabit

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transfers of up to 1,000 Mbps. While some modern networking equipments support this, a lot of devices do not. So before worrying about the speed of your cables, make sure that your internet connection, modem, router, and Ethernet card all support gigabit speeds. Also since Gigabit is the fastest home standard commonly available today, CAT 5 cables are sufficiently fast for domestic uses.

What features does a Shielded CAT5E Cable have over a regular CAT 5 cable?

Shielded CAT5E cables​, as the leading standard, ensure the integrity of your signal. The 'e' standard for CAT 5 cables adds a layer of crosstalk protection to the cable. This prevents all kinds of interference which may arise between the electrical charges of the individual wires.

Shielded cables are strong enough to defend outside interference as well, preventing anything from distorting or garbling the message travelling along the cable. This defense is critical for signal quality near radios, microwaves, power lines and cell phones, all of which generate electromagnetic interference that can ruin transmission along an unshielded cable.

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Do I need Shielded CAT5E Cables for my wireless network?

In a wireless network, devices communicate with each other and the wireless router using radio waves. This is excellent for all those things on your network which have wireless cards like laptops, phones and even some printers. But the most important part of your network, the modem, is unlikely to have wireless capability built in.

The modem is the part of your network that talks to the internet, so it is very important that it is connected to all other devices. In order to do this, there needs to be a cable which connects the modem to the router so that the router can send your wireless signals through a cable to the internet and the internet signals from the cable out onto your wireless network. Additionally, because of the nature of wireless transmission, devices connected over your wireless network will communicate slower and less reliably than devices connected to your router with a shielded CAT 5E cable​.

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CAT 5 cables are thus much faster than most of the home wireless networks. Also, the kind of electromagnetic radiation that a shielded cable is designed to defeat can easily cause your wireless signal to drop or become garbled. So for all the important connections that need to be faster, secure and reliable, consider using a shielded CAT 5E cable instead of wireless connections.

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