LAN CABLES
CAT8 S/FTP CABLE
FEATURES OF CAT 8 S/FTP CABLE
The Cat 8 SFTP (Shielded Foiled Twisted Pair) cable is a high-performance Ethernet cable designed for the fastest data transmission and superior signal protection. Key features of Cat 8 SFTP cables include:
- Ultra-high Speed and Bandwidth: Supports data transfer speeds up to 40 Gbps and bandwidths up to 2000 MHz, significantly outperforming previous Ethernet cable categories, which enables very fast file transfers, 8K streaming, and low-latency gaming environments.
- S/FTP Shielding Construction: Each of the four twisted pairs is shielded with foil, and an overall metallic braid shields the entire cable, providing excellent protection against electromagnetic interference (EMI) and crosstalk, leading to stable and reliable signal quality.
- High-Quality Conductors: Typically made with 26 AWG oxygen-free copper to minimize signal loss and maximize conductivity, which supports long-distance high-speed transmission with minimal degradation.
- Durable Connectors: Often equipped with gold-plated RJ45 contacts for enhanced corrosion resistance and reliable long-term connectivity, plus nickel-plated connector shells for wear resistance.
- Cable Jacket: Outer jackets often incorporate materials like Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) or reinforced cotton-braided PVC, offering fire safety compliance, durability, flexibility, and resistance to tangling or kinking.
- Compatibility and Use Case: Backward compatible with Cat6, Cat6A, Cat7 standards, it is ideal for data centers, server rooms, and high-speed switch-to-switch networks where 25GBase-T and 40GBase-T Ethernet networks are used. Due to higher frequencies, max recommended cable length is about 30 meters.
In summary, Cat 8 SFTP cables provide blazing fast speeds (up to 40 Gbps), exceptional shielding against interference, durable construction, and are designed for demanding networking applications requiring ultra-high bandwidth and minimal latency.
This makes them a preferred choice for professional setups needing future-proof cabling infrastructure supporting next-generation 25G and 40G Ethernet standards.
CAT 7 S/FTP CABLE
FEATURES OF CAT 7 S/FTP CABLE
Cat 7 SFTP (Shielded Foiled Twisted Pair) cable features four individually shielded twisted pairs of copper conductors, each wrapped in foil, with an additional overall shielding of metal braid around the cable. This design provides superior protection against electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio frequency interference (RFI), and crosstalk, making it ideal for environments with heavy external interference. It supports high-speed data transmission with bandwidths up to 600 MHz and speeds up to 10 Gbps over distances of up to 100 meters, suitable for 10GBase-T Ethernet networks. The cable typically uses 23 AWG premium grade copper conductors and can come with various jacket materials such as LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen), PVC, or CM flame-retardant options. It is backward compatible with earlier cable categories and supports Power over Ethernet (PoE) applications, including PoE++ Type 4. Cat 7 SFTP cables are often thicker, stiffer, and heavier compared to lower category cables due to the additional shielding layers, which adds to durability and noise immunity but requires careful routing. They meet stringent IEC, EIA-TIA, and CPR Euro class standards for performance, flame retardancy, and safety.
FEATURES OF CAT 6A SF/UTP CABLE
CAT 6A SFUTP cable features several key attributes that make it suitable for high-performance, interference-resistant network applications. Based on the gathered web sources, here’s a comprehensive overview:
Shielding and Construction
- Shielding: It employs S/FTP (Shielded Foiled Twisted Pair) design, meaning each twisted pair of conductors is individually foil-wrapped, and an overall braided shield provides additional protection against electromagnetic interference (EMI) and crosstalk.
- Conductor Material: Typically made of 23 AWG solid copper conductors ensuring good signal transmission and durability.
- Jacket: The outer sheath is usually LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) or other flame-retardant materials, which are fire-safe and produce minimal smoke and toxic gases in case of a fire.
Mechanical and Environmental Resistance
- The cable jackets are designed to be oil, UV, weld splatter, and abrasion resistant, suitable for industrial and outdoor environments.
- Some variants are rated for high-flex applications, panel, or on-machine environments, supporting a wide range of installations.
Performance Capabilities
- Supports high-speed networks up to 10Gbps over 100 meters, with bandwidths typically reaching 500 MHz.
- The S/FTP shielding method significantly reduces interference, crosstalk, and EMI, ensuring reliable data transfer especially in electrically noisy environments.
Additional Features
- These cables are often designed to support PoE (Power over Ethernet), including PoE++ (IEEE 802.3bt) standards.
- They are tested and certified to meet or exceed global standards such as IEC 61156-6, TIA/EIA-568-C.2, and other international wiring standards.
- The smaller, more flexible design makes them easier to install in tight spaces, improving airflow and cooling in data centers.
Summary Table
| Feature | Details |
| Shielding | Fully shielded with foil wraps on pairs + braided overall shield |
| Conductors | 23 AWG solid copper |
| Outer jacket | LSZH, flame-retardant, oil, UV, abrasion resistant |
| Speed support | Up to 10Gbps over 100 meters |
| Bandwidth | Up to 500 MHz |
| Application | Data centers, industrial, outdoor, high-flex |
This type of cable is ideal for environments demanding high interference immunity, safety from fire hazards, and high-speed data transmission, making it suitable for modern enterprise, industrial, and outdoor network installations.
FEATURES OF CAT 6A S/FTP CABLE
Category 6A SFTP cable is a high-performance network cable designed for 10 Gigabit Ethernet applications with key features including:
- Shielding: SFTP means each of the four twisted pairs in the cable is individually wrapped with metal foil (foil twisted pair) and the entire cable is additionally shielded with an overall braided metal shield (screened foil twisted pair). This double shielding greatly reduces electromagnetic interference (EMI) and alien crosstalk, ensuring clean signal transmission even in environments with heavy external interference.
- Performance: It supports data transfer rates up to 10 Gbps and bandwidths up to 500 MHz, meeting or exceeding the CAT6A TIA-568-C.2 and IEC performance standards for Class EA networks. The cable can reliably operate over distances up to 100 meters.
- Conductors: Typically uses 23 AWG solid or stranded copper conductors, often made of high-purity, oxygen-free copper for optimal signal integrity.
- Construction: The cable core includes four individually foil-wrapped twisted pairs with foamed polyethylene insulation and a fire-resistant jacket which may be PVC or LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) for enhanced safety.
- Connectors & Design: Shielded RJ45 connectors with gold-plated contacts are used to maintain shielding continuity. The cable often has a snagless boot design for easy and secure installation.
- Other specs: Dielectric strength usually 1kV AC for 60 seconds, minimum bending radius 8 times cable diameter, operational temperature range typically from -10°C to 60°C, characteristic impedance 100 Ohms, nominal velocity of propagation around 68%.
- Compliances: Certified to various international standards including UL444, ISO/IEC 11801, IEC 60332 flame retardant tests, and CPR Euro-class fire ratings, ensuring quality and safety.
- Power over Ethernet (PoE) support: Compatible with IEEE 802.3bt PoE++ (up to 90W) applications, making it suitable for powering devices while transmitting data.
This makes CAT6A SFTP cable ideal for high-speed, interference-sensitive network environments such as data centers, enterprise networks, hospitals, and other mission-critical installations requiring robust and future-proof cabling infrastructure.
CAT 6A F/FTP CABLE
FEATURES OF CAT 6A F/FTP CABLE
Category 6A F/FTP cable (often called CAT 6A F/FTP) is a high-performance Ethernet cable designed to support 10 Gigabit Ethernet up to 100 meters and operates at frequencies up to 500 MHz. Its key features typically include:
- Construction: Consists of four twisted pairs of 23 AWG solid bare copper conductors.
- Shielding: Each individual twisted pair is wrapped in foil (FTP), and there is an overall foil shield around all pairs (F/FTP), providing excellent protection against electromagnetic interference (EMI) and alien crosstalk.
- Jacket: Outer jacket is usually PVC or LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) for fire safety.
- Electrical characteristics: 100 Ω impedance, low capacitance unbalance (max 1.2 pF/m), low propagation delay skew (max 25 ns/100m), and high insulation resistance (≥ 5 GΩ·km).
- Mechanical properties: Minimum bend radius typically around 50 mm, max short-term tensile strength about 130 N, and operating temperature range from -20 °C to +60 °C.
- Performance: Supports 10 Gbps Ethernet at 500 MHz over 100 meters, fulfilling or exceeding IEEE 802.3an (10GBASE-T) and Class EA standards.
- Additional features: High pair balance yielding excellent EMC performance, minimizing radiation and noise susceptibility, and high alien crosstalk performance suitable for dense cable installations.
This type of cable is ideal for horizontal and backbone network installations in environments prone to EMI or where high data integrity is critical. The foil shielding on each pair plus overall foil shielding distinguishes CAT 6A F/FTP from other variants like U/FTP or S/FTP by offering superior noise immunity and reduced crosstalk risk.
In summary, CAT 6A F/FTP cable is a robust, shielded twisted pair cable optimized for 10G Ethernet networks with excellent electromagnetic interference protection and strong mechanical and electrical specifications to ensure high-speed, reliable data transmission over long distances (100 meters).
FEATURES OF CAT 6A U/FTP CABLE
Category 6A U/FTP (Unshielded Foiled Twisted Pair) cable features individually foil-shielded twisted pairs, providing excellent protection against crosstalk and electromagnetic interference (EMI). It is designed to meet Class EA standards and support data transmission speeds up to 10 Gbps at frequencies up to 500 MHz. This cable type uses 23 AWG solid bare copper conductors with high-quality construction, including a low-smoke zero-halogen (LSZH) outer sheath for safety in fire conditions.
Key features of CAT 6A U/FTP cable:
- Four pairs of 23 AWG solid bare copper wires
- Each pair individually wrapped with aluminum foil shielding (100% coverage)
- Supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T) over 100 meters distance
- Exceeds ISO/IEC 11801 Class EA and ANSI/TIA-568-C.2 standards for Category 6A performance
- Enhanced resistance to alien crosstalk and EMI, ideal for environments with heavy external interference
- Suitable for horizontal and backbone structured cabling installations
- RoHS and REACH compliant for environmental safety
- LSZH outer jacket, non-PVC, reducing smoke and toxic gas emissions in fire events
- Supports Power over Ethernet (PoE) standards including IEEE 802.3af/at/bt and PoH (Power over HDBaseT)
- Flexible and easier to route than some other shielded cables due to lack of cross-divider
- Available in drums, commonly 305 meters
These features make CAT 6A U/FTP cables excellent for high-speed, high-density data networks requiring minimal interference and robust shielding performance with safe cable materials.
FEATURES OF CAT 6A F/UTP CABLE
The key features of CAT 6A F/UTP (Foiled/Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable are:
- It consists of four unshielded twisted pairs within an overall foil shield, which helps to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) and alien crosstalk (AXT) from adjacent cables or external sources. This foil shield improves data integrity and transmission performance.
- The cable supports 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T) with bandwidth up to around 500-550 MHz, making it suitable for high-speed network installations including data centers, horizontal and backbone cabling.
- Conductors are typically 23 AWG solid bare copper, often with polyethylene insulation of different densities for color-coded pairs.
- The cable construction includes twisted pairs with different pitches and a non-metallic cross separator (spine) inside to minimize crosstalk between pairs.
- The outer jacket can be made in PVC or LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogen) materials, with some variants featuring UV stabilization and gel-filled cores for additional environmental protection such as water resistance.
- Compared to unshielded CAT6A UTP cables, F/UTP cables have a smaller outside diameter but the foil shielding adds protection against signal interference.
- Installation requires compatible shielded connectors to maintain shielding effectiveness.
- It is considered future-proof for installations aiming to support 10G Ethernet over distances up to 100 meters.
In summary, CAT6A F/UTP cables provide enhanced alien crosstalk and EMI protection, support 10G speeds over longer distances, and come with robust construction options for varied environmental needs, making them ideal for demanding network environments requiring high data integrity and performance.
FEATURES OF CAT 6A U/UTP CABLE
Category 6A U/UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cable features the following key attributes:
- Comprises 4 pairs of unshielded twisted copper conductors, typically 23 AWG caliber, designed for high-performance data transmission.
- Supports data transmission bandwidth up to 500 MHz or more, enabling 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GBASE-T) speeds over distances up to 100 meters.
- Constructed with internal pair separators or splines to reduce alien crosstalk (ANEXT) and maintain signal integrity.
- Features tighter twists and larger conductor sizes than Cat 6, improving noise immunity and reducing crosstalk.
- Usually jacketed with Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH) or other flame-retardant materials complying with fire safety standards like IEC 60332-1.
- The cable is unshielded overall (U/UTP) without additional foil or braid shielding, making it easier to install and cost-effective in environments with controlled electromagnetic interference.
- Meets or exceeds industry standards such as ANSI/TIA-568.2-D, ISO/IEC 11801 Class EA, and IEC 61156-5 for Category 6A performance.
- Designed with features like integrated strength members for durability and pulling tension during installation.
- Optimized for horizontal cabling in data centers, enterprise networks, and office building installations requiring 10G Ethernet.
- Pair-to-pair and pair-to-ground resistance and capacitance are tightly controlled to ensure consistent electrical performance.
- Typically provided on reels or boxes in lengths like 305 meters for bulk installations.
In summary, Cat 6A U/UTP cable offers a high-performance, cost-effective solution for 10 Gigabit Ethernet applications with careful internal construction to minimize crosstalk and ensure reliable data transmission without the complexity and cost of shielding. It is compliant with critical industry standards and incorporates flame-retardant jacket materials for safety.
FEATURES OF CAT 6 U/UTP CABLE
Category 6 UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cables are high-speed Ethernet cables designed to support Gigabit Ethernet and other high-bandwidth network applications. Their key features include operating at a frequency of up to 250 MHz, supporting data transfer speeds up to 1 Gbps at 100 meters, and up to 10 Gbps at shorter distances (up to 55 meters). The cable consists of four unshielded twisted pairs of copper wire with tighter twists and improved insulation to reduce crosstalk and electromagnetic interference. Unlike shielded types, Cat 6 UTP cables rely on advanced twisting to minimize noise without metallic shielding, making them cost-effective yet suitable for demanding applications like video streaming, gaming, and cloud computing. They comply with ISO IEC 61156-5 and TIA 568-C.2 standards and are backward compatible with Cat 5 and Cat 5e cables. Typical wire gauge is 23 AWG, with an impedance of 100 ohms. Cat 6 UTP cables are widely used in business and enterprise networks for future-proof high performance while offering reasonable affordability compared to shielded or augmented Cat 6A cables.
FEATURES OF CAT 6 F/UTP CABLE
The main features of a CAT 6 FTP (Foiled Twisted Pair) cable are:
- Performance up to 250 MHz bandwidth, supporting high-speed data transfer up to 1 Gbps for typical cable lengths of up to 100 meters.
- Shielding: CAT 6 FTP cables have an overall foil shield around the twisted pairs to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) and crosstalk from external sources, improving signal integrity compared to unshielded CAT 6 UTP cables.
- Construction: Usually composed of four pairs of 23 AWG copper wires, twisted to reduce interference, with a metal foil shield wrapped over all pairs, often including a drain wire for grounding the shield.
- Compatibility: Backward compatible with CAT 5 and CAT 5e standards, making them suitable for upgrading existing network infrastructure.
- Jacket and environmental ratings: Available in various jacket materials suitable for indoor, riser, plenum, or outdoor applications, offering resistance to fire and environmental factors based on use case.
- Connectors: Typically terminated with shielded RJ45 connectors with gold plated contacts for better conductivity and durability.
- Applications: Ideal for networks requiring reduced noise and interference such as office or industrial environments, supporting gigabit Ethernet and PoE (Power over Ethernet) in some cases.
In summary, CAT 6 FTP cables provide enhanced shielding to minimize interference, deliver high data transfer rates up to 1 Gbps at 250 MHz bandwidth, and are suited for high-performance and noise-sensitive network installations.