Network Cable Standards

Twisted-pair Ethernet categories and fiber cable types — speeds, distances, and use.

Reference Reference Updated Apr 19, 2026

Category	Rated bandwidth	Supported speed	Max distance	Typical use
Cat3	16 MHz	10 Mbit/s	100 m	Legacy phone / 10BASE-T
Cat5	100 MHz	100 Mbit/s	100 m	Obsolete; replaced by Cat5e
Cat5e	100 MHz	1 Gbit/s	100 m	Most old premises wiring
Cat6	250 MHz	1 Gbit/s (10 G @ 55 m)	100 m	New office runs
Cat6a	500 MHz	10 Gbit/s	100 m	Modern infrastructure
Cat7	600 MHz	10 Gbit/s	100 m	Industrial; not widely used in US
Cat7a	1 000 MHz	10 Gbit/s	100 m
Cat8	2 000 MHz	25 or 40 Gbit/s	30 m	Data centers — short patch

Type	Core diameter	Use	Typical link budget
OM1 (multimode)	62.5 µm	Legacy 1G, 850 nm	10G up to 33 m
OM2 (multimode)	50 µm	LEDs, 1G	10G up to 82 m
OM3 (multimode)	50 µm	VCSEL 850 nm	10G to 300 m, 40G to 100 m
OM4 (multimode)	50 µm	Data center	10G to 400 m, 100G to 150 m
OM5 (multimode)	50 µm	SWDM	100G over dual-wavelength
OS1 / OS2 (single-mode)	8–10 µm	Long-haul	10G to 10 km+, 100G over longer

Last updated: April 19, 2026