Looking through a catalogue I'm confused by the cable types. I work on RF equipment but I'm used to Coax systems rather than twisted pair.
I understand that cat 5 cable is a twisted pair cable with four pairs in. I see both an unshielded and a shielded variant in the catalogue.
I've tried google and I can't find any reference to the use of shielded Cat5. Enough manufacturers seem to make it though. Are the shielded and unshielded interchangable? What is the shielded version for?
Cat 6 appears to be Cat 5 with the addition of a plastic spacer to keep the pairs apart. I read that this is for Gigabit speed connections. I was under the impression that gigabit ethernet was designed to work over Category 5 cable. Did I miss something. Google results sugest that Cat 6 is just a lower loss upgrade to Cat 5e.
Category 7 cable appears to have individual screening for each pair to eliminate crosstalk. I know of no data application that demands this level of screening. What's it for, video distribution? One search result says it has only experimental applications and no standard or standard connector. The stuff is still on sale though!!