Cable Question

QuestionTime

Hi everyone:

I was confused by one of practice exam question, that STP refer to Cat5 or Cat5e.
The answer was Cat5e.
From my understanding Cat5 has either STP or UTP. However, according to that practice exam question UTP always on Cat5 and STP is always on Cat5e.

Please advise what is the right answer ?

Thank you.

markieman31

CompTia exams love to do this kind of thing. If the practice exam says that...remember it for the exam, and then ignore it after that. Its just another one of the things they might want you to know, but it has no real life application. Keep it in the back of your mind, that if you get that question, click that answer, and then click next and move on.

The category ratings are usually for UTP cable. Regardless, the difference between Cat5 and Cat5e has nothing to do with whether it is shielded or not.

Key thing to remember about the difference between the two is Cat5 is 100mbps and Cat5e is 1000mbps or 1Gbps. Cat5e has a different wire orientation and more twists per foot to minimize interference (crosstalk).

Plantwiz

QuestionTime wrote:

Hi everyone:

I was confused by one of practice exam question, that STP refer to Cat5 or Cat5e.
The answer was Cat5e.
From my understanding Cat5 has either STP or UTP. However, according to that practice exam question UTP always on Cat5 and STP is always on Cat5e.

Please advise what is the right answer ?

Thank you.

Well, how well do you understand the terms? Or Acronyms? Knowing that these mean will just about answer your question and is a way to measure a candidates understanding of the material.



*****

While CAT5e can be STP and UTP (shield-twisted-pair) and (unshielded-Twisted-pair) this is one where experience will gain you some benefits. Most environments do not require STP for CAT5e runs and therefore UTP is generally what is referenced when discussing CAT5e....because of cost

http://www.answers.com/topic/twisted-pair?cat=technology

There are times when you would spec STP cable but it's not nearly as common to spec as UTP. If there is too much line noise...you may end up specifying fiber...just depends....but when it's asked in a 'pick the best answer' type scenerio...they are usually referring to what is installed in the field.


HTH