What Is Cat 6a?

Date First Published: 22nd May 2022

Topic: Computer Networking

Subtopic: Data Transmission Technologies

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 5/10

Learn more about what Cat 6a is in this article.

Short for Category 6 Augmented, Cat 6a is an enhanced version of Cat 6 that supports data transmission speeds of up to 10 Gb/s, the same as Cat 6. Because of this fact, it is known as a 10 Gigabit Ethernet cable. However, it supports frequency transmission speeds of up to 500 MHz, twice as much as Cat 6. The IEEE published a draft standard in October 2004 and it was defined by the Telecommunications Industry Association and has improved reduction of crosstalk and better overall performance. Due to the better performance, Cat 6a cables cost more than Cat 6 and are slightly thicker with copper conductors that are twisted tighter. However, they still use the same RJ45 connectors and can be identified by the printed text on the coloured rubber. In general, Cat 6a has stricter specifications than Cat 6.

Note:

Cat 6a cables are also shielded rather than unshielded, which means that the four pairs of single-carrying wires are covered to reduce electromagnetic interference, reducing crosstalk. Cat 6a is backwards compatible with Cat 6 and Cat 5e and is often used in office networks.

Maximum Length

Cat 6a cables have a similar maximum length as Cat 6 cables. However, they can support up to 100 metres in 10GBASE-T with an unshielded cable rather than 55 metres. This means that they have the ability to extend to 100 metres between connected devices in both business and home networks with 10/100/1,000BASE-T and 10GBASE-T. Without the use of a bridge or other network device, exceeding this length could result in network difficulties such as data packet loss and transmission speed reduction.