What is Cat8 Ethernet Cable? Is Cat8 better than Cat6?

What is Cat8 Ethernet Cable? Cat8 Ethernet cable is the latest generation of double-shielded (SFTP) network patch cord. It has two pairs of conductors and supports a bandwidth of 2000MHz. And the transmission rate is up to 40Gb/s. In addition, Cat8 Ethernet cable is compatible with all RJ45 cables. It is specially designed for 25/40GBASE-T applications. However, its transmission distance is short, only 30m. It is particularly suitable for connecting servers, switches, patch panels and other equipment in short-distance data centers.

Categories of Cat8 Ethernet Cable

In the ISO/IEC-11801 standard, Cat8 cables are divided into Class I and Class II according to the channel level. Among them, the shielding type of Class I Cat8 Ethernet cable is U/FTP and F/UTP. It is backward compatible with the RJ45 connector interface of Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6a. The shielding type of Class II Cat8 Ethernet cable is F/FTP or S/FTP. It is backward compatible with TERA or GG45 connector interface.

Advantages of Cat8 Cable

As mentioned above, Cat8 network cables can share RJ45 ports. This means that Cat8 network cables can easily upgrade network speeds from 1G to 10G, 25G, and 40G. In addition, Cat8 network cables are plug-and-play. They can also be terminated on-site like other types of network cables, making them very easy to deploy.

At the same time, due to the low cost of network cables, twisted pair cables have always been the most cost-effective solution in Ethernet. Cat8 network cables are no exception. Therefore, when deploying 25G/40GBASE-T networks, when the transmission distance is less than 30 meters, Category 8 network cables are more cost-effective than fiber optic patch cords. When the transmission distance is less than 5 meters, using Cat8 cable is more cost-effective than twisted pair high-speed cables.

Is Cat8 better than Cat6? What is the difference between Cat6 and Cat8?

As can be seen from the table above, Cat8 is the same as Category 6. Both are shielded twisted pair cables. They can be used in data centers, high-speed and bandwidth-intensive places. Although the transmission distance of Cat8 is not as far as that of Category 6. Its speed and frequency are far higher than Category 6/Category 6A cables.