Cable Speed Table
This won't be a long-winded blog post about the evolution of cable standards over the years, nuances of wire gauge and twist rates, and all the various connectors that can be used. There are so many other sites that have covered this, and entire novels could be (and have been) written on the subjects. This is just a simple table to act as a quick reference for the various cable categories, their usable/rated speeds (not all of which are official), the distance that speed should be obtainable at (not all of which are agreed upon), and some notes. Enjoy!
| Cable Category | Ethernet Speed | Distance | Notes |
| 1 | 1Mbps | N/A | Voice Only Networks |
| 2 | 4Mbps | N/A | Voice and ARCnet Token Ring Networks |
| 3 | 10Mbps | 100m (328ft) | Heavily used in early 1990's |
| 100Mbps | Varies | Unofficial/Unsupported Depending on cable, environmental noise, and switch, this can be anything from a dozen feet up to 100m(328ft) |
|
| 1Gbps | Varies | Unofficial/Unsupported Depending on cable, environmental noise, and switch, this can be anything from a dozen feet up to 100m(328ft) |
|
| 4 | 16Mbps | 100m (328ft) | |
| 5 | 100Mbps | 100m (328ft) | 100Mbps = "Fast Ethernet" |
| 1Gbps | Varies | Unofficial/Unsupported Depending on cable, environmental noise, and switch, this can be anything from a dozen feet up to 100m(328ft) |
|
| 5e | 1Gbps | 100m (328ft) | Most popular standard in use since its release in 2001 |
| 2.5Gbps | 100m (328ft) | 802.3bz-2016 | |
| 5Gbps | 55m (180ft) | Unofficial/Unsupported Depends on cable, environmental noise, and switch |
|
| 10Gbps | 15m (49ft) | Unofficial/Unsupported Depending on cable, environmental noise, and switch, this can be anything from a dozen feet up to 45m(148ft) |
|
| 6 | 5Gbps | 100m (328ft) | 802.3bz-2016 |
| 10Gbps | 55m (180ft) - Unshielded 100m (328ft) - Shielded |
IEEE 802.3-2012 clause 55.7.2 | |
| 6a | 10Gbps | 100m (328ft) | ANSI/TIA-568.2-D (2018) |
| 7 | 10Gbps | 100m (328ft) | Uses GG45 or TERA connector instead of RJ45 connector. It is an ISO standard, but not a TIA/EIA standard |
| 7a | 10Gbps | 100m (328ft) | It is an ISO standard, but not a TIA/EIA standard |
| 40Gbps | 50m (164ft) | ||
| 100Gbps | 15m (49ft) | ||
| 8.1 | 25Gbps | 30m (98ft) | Uses RJ45 connector. |
| 8.2 | 40Gbps | 30m (98ft) | Uses GG45 or TERA connector instead of RJ45 connector |
Update on Jan 26, 2023 - I expanded the Cat 6 10Gbps entry to reflect shielded vs unshielded and clarify the exact part of the standard where it appears.