CAT 3 Insights

What is CAT 3?

CAT 3 (Category 3) refers to a type of unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable commonly used for telephone wiring. It supports frequencies up to 16 MHz and was often used for 10BASE-T Ethernet networks, supporting data transfer rates of up to 10 Mbps. While once prevalent, CAT 3 has largely been superseded by CAT 5, CAT 5e, and CAT 6 cables which offer higher bandwidth and faster data transfer speeds. Due to its limited bandwidth, CAT 3 is not suitable for modern network applications.

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What other technologies are related to CAT 3?

CAT 3 Competitor Technologies

CAT 5

CAT 5 is an older version of twisted pair cabling, and is therefore a competitor, although largely obsolete.

mentioned alongside CAT 3 in 29% (481) of relevant job posts

Cat 5E

Cat 5E is an enhanced version of CAT 5 and a competitor to CAT 3, offering improved performance, although CAT 3 is still used in some older installations.

mentioned alongside CAT 3 in 6% (71) of relevant job posts

Cat 6

Cat 6 is a newer generation of twisted pair cabling with significantly higher performance capabilities compared to CAT 3, making it a competitor in network installations.

mentioned alongside CAT 3 in 3% (86) of relevant job posts

fiber optic

Fiber optic cables offer much higher bandwidth and longer distances compared to CAT 3, making them a competitor, especially in applications requiring high-speed data transmission over long distances.

mentioned alongside CAT 3 in 1% (60) of relevant job posts