Extension of Keyboard, Video and Mouse (KVM) and USB extension over CATx (Cat 5/5e/6) UTP/STP cabling
CAT5
CAT5 (Category 5 ethernet cable) is an widely used EIA/TIA Ethernet cable standard.
CAT5 cables contain 4 twisted pairs of copper wire and support 100 Mbps Fast
Ethernet. CAT5 cable runs are limited to a maximum recommended length of 100m
(328 feet).
CAT5e
CAT5e (Category 5 enhanced) is a CAT5 variation that supports short-run Gigabit
Ethernet (1000 Mbps) networking by utilizing all four wire pairs in a CAT5 cable,
and is backward-compatible with ordinary CAT5.
CAT6
CAT6 (Category 6) is the 6th generation of twisted pair Ethernet cabling. It
is a standard superseding CAT5e in its support for Gigabit Ethernet. Unlike
CAT5, it utilizes all four twisted pairs. CAT6 supports communications at more
than twice the speed of CAT5e, the other popular standard for Gigabit Ethernet
cabling.
Extension of Keyboard, Video and Mouse (KVM) and USB extension over Singlemode
or Multimode Fibre Optic cabling:
Singlemode fibre cable allows only one mode (or wavelength) of light
to propagate through the fibre. It is capable of higher bandwidth and greater
distances than multimode, and it is often used long for distance connectivity.
This type of fibre uses lasers as the light-generating method. Single-mode cable
is much more expensive than multimode cable. Its maximum cable length is more
than 10 km (32808.4 feet).
Multimode fibre cable allows multiple modes of light to propagate through
the fibre. It is used for workgroup applications and intrabuilding applications
such as risers. It uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as a light-generating device.
The maximum cable length is 2 km (6561.7 feet).