You work for a small city IT department and you are helping

You work for a small city IT department, and you are helping to string network cable for a new building under construction. You are stringing the most commonly used UTP cable for what’s known as Gigabit Ethernet. Of the following options, which cable types could you use? (Choose three.)

A. CAT3

B. CAT5

C. CAT5e

D. CAT6

Solution

B, C, and D. Both CAT5 and CAT5e have the same maximum data frequency rates of 100 MHz. While CAT5e has almost completely replaced CAT5 as an industry standard and offers better near-end crosstalk protection than CAT5, CAT5 is still commonly used. Although CAT6 supports a data frequency rate of up to 250 MHz, it is on its way to replacing both CAT5 and CAT5e cabling, so potentially, you could be using any of these cable types.