The Standards
The performance tests and their procedures have been defined in the ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.1 standard and the ISO/IEC 11801 standard. The TIA standard defines performance in categories (Cat 3, Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6A) and the ISO defines classes (Class C, D, E, EA, F and FA). These standards define the procedure to certify that an installation meets performance criteria in a given category or class.
The significance of each category or class is the limit values of which the Pass/Fail and frequency ranges are measured; Cat 3 and Class C (no longer used) test and define communication with 16 MHz bandwidth, Cat 5e and Class D with 100 MHz bandwidth, Cat 6 and Class E up to 250 MHz, Cat6A and Class EA up to 500 MHz, Cat7 and Class F up to 600 MHZ and Cat 7A and Class FA with a frequency range through 1000 MHz.
The standards also define that data from each test result must be collected and stored in either print or electronic format for future inspection.
Read more about this topic: Copper Cable Certification
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