Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable is the latest generation of double-shielded (SFTP) network patch cables. It has two pairs of conductors, supports a bandwidth of 2000MHz, and has a transmission rate of up to 40Gb/s. In addition, The Cat8 cable is backward compatible with all RJ45 cables and is specifically designed for 25/40GBASE-T applications. However, its transmission distance is short, only 30m, making it particularly suitable for short-distance data center servers, switches, patch panels, and other device connections.

Standards of Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet Cable The relevant standards of Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable were officially released by the American Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) TR-43 Committee in 2016, specifically:

Compliant with IEEE 802.3bq 25G / 40GBASE-T standard, which stipulates the minimum transmission rate of Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable, supporting 25 Gbps and 40 Gbps network cabling.

Compliant with ANSI / TIA-568-C.2-1 standard, which stipulates the channel and permanent link of Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable, and includes restrictions on resistance imbalance, TCL, and ELTCTL.

Compliant with ANSI / TIA-1152-A standard, which stipulates the measurement and accuracy requirements of Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable field testers.

Compliant with ISO / IEC-11801 standard, which stipulates the channel and permanent link of Class I/II Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable.

Categories of Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet Cable In the ISO / IEC-11801 standard, Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable is divided into Class I and Class II according to the channel level. Class I Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable shielding type is U/FTP and F/UTP, which can be backward compatible with RJ45 connector interfaces of Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6a; Class II Cat8 Category 8 Ethernet cable shielding type is F/FTP or S/FTP, which can be backward compatible with TERA or GG45 connector interfaces.

Advantages of Cat8 Ethernet Cable As mentioned above, Cat8 Ethernet cable can share RJ45 ports, which means that Cat8 Ethernet cable can easily upgrade the network rate from 1G to 10G, 25G, and 40G. In addition, Cat8 Ethernet cable is plug-and-play and can be field-terminated like other categories of Ethernet cables, making it very easy to deploy.

At the same time, due to the low cost of Ethernet cables, twisted pair has always been the most cost-effective solution in Ethernet, and Cat8 Ethernet cable is no exception. Therefore, when deploying 25G/40GBASE-T networks, when the transmission distance is less than 30 meters, Category 8 Ethernet cable is more cost-effective than fiber optic patch cables, and when the transmission distance is less than 5 meters, using Cat8 Ethernet cable can save more cost than high-speed twisted pair cables.