Services/Data Cabling/Cable Types
Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6a & Cat 7.
A plain-English breakdown of the four twisted-pair categories we install. Speed, distance, shielding and which one is right for your site. Part of our wider data cabling service.
Cat 5e
Smaller refurbishments, retail back-of-house and ad-hoc point-to-point runs where 1 Gigabit is the target and budget is the priority.Fully certifiable and supported. We'll quote Cat 5e and Cat 6 side by side at survey so you can choose on numbers.Speed: 1 GbpsDistance: 100 mBandwidth: 100 MHz
Cat 6
The default for most modern office fit-outs. Comfortable headroom for Gigabit today and a sensible 10 Gbps path for shorter runs to the future.Pairs cleanly with the typical patch-panel-to-desk distances on a single floor plate.Speed: 1 Gbps (10 Gbps to 55 m)Distance: 100 mBandwidth: 250 MHz
Cat 6a
Healthcare, education, larger floor plates and any site you want to last 10+ years. The right call when 10 Gigabit at full distance matters.Standard recommendation for clinical and campus environments, and what most manufacturer 25-year warranties are now built around.Speed: 10 GbpsDistance: 100 mBandwidth: 500 MHz
Cat 7
Industrial environments with heavy electromagnetic interference. Factories, plant rooms, sites where cable trays share space with high-current power.Fully shielded (S/FTP). Stiffer, slightly harder to terminate, but earns its place where EMI is genuinely a problem.Speed: 10 Gbps+Distance: 100 mBandwidth: 600 MHz
Specced to your site.
The right category depends on the speeds you need, the distance the cable has to run, and the environment it's running through. We survey the site first, then recommend, not the other way round.
Cat 6 is our default for most office work. Cat 6a is the standard for healthcare and schools and universities. Cat 7 earns its place in manufacturing and industrial environments. Cat 5e still has a role on smaller, lower-traffic refurbishments.
For longer distances or building-to-building links, we'll combine copper with fibre cabling on the backbone.
Got a project in mind? Let's scope it together.
Not sure which spec is right for you?
Tell us about the site and we'll recommend the right cable category, outlet count and containment plan. Fixed-price quotes, fully tested and certified.
Same working day response · Free site survey · Fixed-price quote