Cat 5e cable is an enhanced version of Cat 5 that adds specifications for
far end crosstalk. It was formally defined in 2001 in the
TIA/EIA-568-B standard, which no longer recognizes the original Cat 5 specification. Although
1000BASE-T
was designed for use with Cat 5 cable, the tighter specifications
associated with Cat 5e cable and connectors make it an excellent choice
for use with 1000BASE-T. Despite the stricter performance
specifications, Cat 5e cable does not enable longer cable distances for
Ethernet networks: cables are still limited to a maximum of 328 ft (100
m) in length (normal practice is to limit fixed ("horizontal") cables
to 90 m to allow for up to 5 m of patch cable at each end). Cat 5e
cable performance characteristics and test methods are defined in
TIA/EIA-568-B.2-2001.