7 and 7a categories: cables of the future
Article 6 November 2018
We can’t stop the progress. One innovation replaces the other in each industry, including IT.
In a time of boundless opportunities, the IT industry is a link that plays an important role in the functioning of other industries. To make this connection efficient, links must be reliable and permanent. Cat.7 and Cat.7A cables possess all of these qualities.
The category 7 was introduced in 1999 and ratified in 2002. Gigabit Ethernet support demands cables to be of special technical characteristics, which are spelled out in ISO 11801, the international standard of the cable categories.
What are advantages of categories 7 and 7A?
These cables significantly differ from the cables of lower categories.
One of the advantages of the categories is the cable construction type. The Cat.7 and Cat.7A cables have a double-shielded type (S/FTP). The shielding of every twisted pair provides an additional protection from any crosstalk to ensure a steady operation of new high-speed applications at frequencies of up to 1000 MHz.
Greater bandwidth let the Cat.7 and Cat.7A cables to transmit large amount of information with a full support of 10Gbit/s speed. A number of researches showed that there is a possibility to transmit information with the speeds up to 25Gbit/s, 40Gbit/s and even 100Gbit/s at limited distances. However, these characteristics haven`t been ratified yet.
Among the possibility to support 10GBASE-T Ethernet application, the Cat.7 and Cat.7A cables are able to transmit voice (POTS) and television (CATV) signals in one time with data at the speed up to 1Gbit/s as displayed in the table below.
| Category | 7 | 7A |
|---|---|---|
| Bandwidth | 600 MHz | 1000 MHz |
| Speed | up to 10 Gbit/s | up to 10 Gbit/s |
| Distance | 100 m | 100 m |
| Application | 10GBASE-T Ethernet or POTS/CATV/1000BASE-T | 10GBASE-T Ethernet or POTS/CATV/1000BASE-T |
Mostly, these categories are of a great use in data centers. However, Apple, one of the biggest manufacturers of various up-to-date gadgets, has started providing its laptops with 10-Gigabit network cards. Therefore, there are no doubts that 10-Gigabit technology will be a product of a widespread use in the nearest future.
How NIKOMAX can fulfill the demand
NIKOMAX carries the Cat.7 and Cat.7A cables under 4th series with basic 5-year component and 15-year system warranty.
It is important to notice that the maximum currently existing category of keystones, patch panels and plugs is the category 6A. Therefore, NIKOMAX offers two solutions:
The first solution is to combine the Cat.7 cables with components of the categories 6 or 6A. This combination will slightly increase the project cost but prove itself further with the possibility to move to the components of higher categories without the necessity of dismantling cable lines.
The second solution is to combine Cat.7A cables with components of the categories 6A or upcoming category 8, which is expected in NIKOMAX product range in the beginning of 2019.
Warranty options available for projects, where different categories are combined
| Combination of the categories used | 7+6 | 7+6A | 7A+6A | 7A+8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| System warranty term | 15 years | 25 years | ||
To win the information race, you have to think ahead. Choose one of these solutions to build your bright future. And remember – “Great companies are built on great products” (Elon Musk).