Category 4 Cable

What Does Category 4 Cable Mean?

A Category 4 cable (Cat 4 cable) is a type of twisted pair cable used mainly in telecommunication networks and some computer networks. It was defined in the ANSI/EIA/TIA 568 and ISO/IEC 11801 specifications.

Advertisements

A Cat 4 cable has a variant in unshielded (UTP) and shielded twisted pair (STP) cables, but UTP is the primary version.

Techopedia Explains Category 4 Cable

A Cat 4 cable consists of four pairs of UTP copper cables. It was initially developed for token ring, 10Base-T and 100Base-4 networks but gained much usage in telecom-based communications. It provides 20 MHz of bandwidth with a data transfer rate (DTR) of up to 16 Mbps. However, for ANSI/EIA/TIA 568, the Cat 4 cable is rated at 20 MHz and 100 MHz for ISO/IEC 11801 specification.

The Cat 4 cable is no longer in use and is not supported by current data cabling standards and associated devices.

Advertisements

Related Terms

Latest Networking Terms

Related Reading

Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…