Glossary of Network Terms

Structured Cabling System is a set of cabling and networking products that integrates data cabling, voice cabling, video cabling, security camera cabling and local area network (LAN) systems of a building or an office.

Category 5, Cat5: Unshielded twisted pair with 100 ohm impedance and electrical characteristics supporting transmission at frequencies up to 100 MHz. Defined by the TIA/EIA 568-B specification. Use Cat5 cabling if planning on running at most 100Mbps.

Category 5e, Cat5e, Enhanced Cat 5, Cat5+: Category 5e is a new standard that will specify transmission performance that exceeds Cat 5. Cat 5e has improved specifications for NEXT, PSELFEXT, and Attenuation. Like Cat 5, it consists of unshielded twisted pair with 100 ohm impedance and electrical characteristics supporting transmission at frequencies up to 100 MHz. To be defined in the TIA 568-B-5 update.  Use Cat5e cabling if running up to 1000 Mbps (1GB)

Category 6, Cat6: Category 6 is a proposed standard that aims to support transmission at frequencies up to 250 MHz over 100 ohm twisted pair. Use Cat6 cabling you plan on running at 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) or more. Cat6 cabling is better if you are in areas that have lots of interference like near power lines, lights, manufacturing equipment, or a long distance 1000 Mbps (Gigabit) run.

Category 7, Cat7: Category7 is a proposed standard that aims to support transmission at frequencies up to 600 MHz over 100 ohm twisted pair.

Fiber optic cabling is the method used to install fiber optics (optical fibers) which are long, thin strands of very pure glass about the diameter of a human hair. They are arranged in bundles calledoptical cables and used to transmit signals over long distances. This is commonly referred to as fiber optic installation.

Low Voltage Cabling is one of the basic foundations of network and telecommunications infrastructure. This is specifically used in data center designs of wiring telephone systems, computers, peripherals, video networks and security systems require high-quality shielded low voltage cabling to communicate consistently with each other.

Abandoned Cables The definition of abandoned cable, as found in paragraphs 800.2 and 770.2 of the NEC 2002 Book, states "....Installed communications cable that is not terminated at both ends at a connector or other equipment and not identified "For Future Use" with a tag.”