CAT 7 cable

Category 7 cable (Cat 7), (ISO/IEC 11801:2002 category 7/class F), is a cable standard for Ethernet and other interconnect technologies that can be made to be backwards compatible with traditional Cat 5 and Cat 6 Ethernet cable. Cat 7 features even more strict specifications for crosstalk and system noise than Cat 6. To achieve this, shielding has been added for individual wire pairs and the cable as a whole. Category 7 is not recognized in EIA/TIA standards but it is used and marketed in industry.



The Cat 7 cable standard has been created to allow 10 Gigabit Ethernet over 100 m of copper cabling (also, 10-Gbit/s Ethernet now is typically run on Cat 6a). The cable contains four twisted copper wire pairs, just like the earlier standards. Cat 7 can be terminated either with 8P8C compatible GG45 electrical connectors which incorporate the 8P8C standard or with TERA connectors. When combined with GG45 or TERA connectors, Cat 7 cable is rated for transmission frequencies of up to 600 MHz.

Category 7a (or Augmented Category 7) is defined at frequencies up to 1000 MHz, suitable for multiple applications in a single cable (just like all other categories) including CATV (862 MHz) .[1][2][3] Simulation results have shown that 40 Gigabit Ethernet is possible at 50 meters and 100 Gigabit Ethernet is possible at 15 meters.[1] Mohsen Kavehrad and researchers at The Pennsylvania State University believe that either 32 nm or 22 nm circuits will allow for 100 Gigabit Ethernet at 100 meters.[4][5]

However, similar studies in the past have shown that Cat5e could support 10G, so these should be read with caution. Furthermore, the IEEE is currently not looking into 40G or 100G for Cat7a. It may in the future, but there is absolutely no guarantee that such applications will ever exist.

Cat7a is currently a draft in ISO standards for channel and permanent link. Component performance is yet to be looked into. TIA/EIA currently is not working on any Cat7a standard.