Different Types of Ethernet Cables

Understanding the Different Types of Ethernet Cables

Choosing the right network cable is essential for performance, speed, and future scalability. Here’s a simple breakdown of the most common Ethernet cable categories:

🔹 CAT3 (Category 3)
 • Speed: Up to 10 Mbps
 • Frequency: 16 MHz
 • Used for: Old telephone lines and legacy networks
📄 Mostly obsolete today.

🔹 CAT5 (Category 5)
 • Speed: Up to 100 Mbps
 • Frequency: 100 MHz
 • Used for: Early Ethernet networks
📄 Largely replaced by CAT5e.

🔹 CAT5e (Category 5 enhanced)
 • Speed: Up to 1 Gbps
 • Frequency: 100 MHz
 • Improved crosstalk reduction
📄 Still widely used in homes and small offices.

🔹 CAT6 (Category 6)
 • Speed: Up to 1 Gbps (up to 10 Gbps for shorter distances)
 • Frequency: 250 MHz
 • Better insulation and lower interference
📄 Ideal for modern office networks.

🔹 CAT6a (Category 6 augmented)
 • Speed: 10 Gbps
 • Frequency: 500 MHz
 • Better shielding and performance over longer distances
📄 Common in enterprise environments.

🔹 CAT7 (Category 7)
 • Speed: 10 Gbps
 • Frequency: 600 MHz
 • Individually shielded pairs
📄  Designed for high-performance data centers.

🔹 CAT8 (Category 8)
 • Speed: 25–40 Gbps
 • Frequency: 2000 MHz
 • High shielding, short distance (up to 30 meters)
📄  Used in data centers and high-speed server connections.

💡For most business environments today, CAT6 or CAT6a offers the best balance between performance and cost. CAT8 is mainly for specialized high-speed data center applications.

Network Cables - 3 Common types

Network Cables - 3 Common types

Network Troubleshooting

Network Troubleshooting

𝗢𝗦𝗜 𝘃𝘀 𝗧𝗖𝗣/𝗜𝗣 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀

 𝗢𝗦𝗜 𝘃𝘀 𝗧𝗖𝗣/𝗜𝗣 𝗠𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹: 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀

Active Directory vs Additional Active Directory vs Read Only Active Directory

Active Directory vs Additional Active Directory vs Read Only Active Directory 

The reality of IT Administration

 The reality of IT Administration

How Companies Actually Design Their Networks

How Companies Actually Design Their Networks — And Why VLANs Are the Secret Weapon

How do companies design their networks to stay secure, scalable, and efficient?

Here's the truth most people miss: A flat network is a hacker's dream. 🚨

🔷 What Is Network Design?
Network design is the blueprint of how devices, servers, and users communicate within an organization. Think of it as the architecture of a digital building — every floor, room, and corridor is planned for performance, security, and growth.

A well-designed corporate network typically includes:
✅ Core Layer → The backbone. High-speed routers and switches that move data across the entire organization.
✅ Distribution Layer → The traffic controller. It enforces policies, filters routes, and connects the core to the access layer.
✅ Access Layer → Where end-users plug in. Desktops, laptops, IP phones, printers — all connect here.

This is called the 3-Tier Hierarchical Network Model, and it's the gold standard for enterprise network design.

🔷 Now, Enter VLANs — Virtual Local Area Networks
Imagine you have 200 employees across HR, Engineering, Finance, and Marketing — all connected to the same physical switches. Without segmentation, anyone can see everyone else's traffic. 😱

VLANs solve this by creating logical segments within the same physical network:

🟢 VLAN 10 → HR Department
🔵 VLAN 20 → Engineering
🟡 VLAN 30 → Finance
🟠 VLAN 40 → Guest Wi-Fi

Even though all departments share the same physical switches, VLANs ensure:

🔒 Security → Finance traffic is invisible to Engineering
⚡ Performance → Broadcast storms are contained within each VLAN
📏 Compliance → Regulatory requirements (PCI-DSS, HIPAA) often mandate network segmentation
🛠️ Manageability → IT teams can manage and troubleshoot each segment independently

🔷 How VLANs Work in Practice
1️⃣ A managed switch assigns each port to a specific VLAN
2️⃣ Access Ports carry traffic for a single VLAN (your desk connection)
3️⃣ Trunk Ports carry traffic for multiple VLANs between switches using 802.1Q tagging
4️⃣ A Layer 3 switch or router enables inter-VLAN routing when departments need to communicate

Real-world devices involved: 🖥️ Cisco Catalyst switches, Juniper EX series, HP Aruba switches 📡 Enterprise routers (Cisco ISR, Fortinet FortiGate) 🔥 Firewalls for inter-VLAN traffic inspection

Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switch

Layer 2 vs Layer 3 Switch — The Difference That Decides Your Network Design

If you’re preparing for CCNA, working in a NOC, or designing office / DC networks — this is one concept you MUST understand.

Because the moment VLANs enter the picture…
Layer 2 alone is not enough.

🔵 Layer 2 Switch (OSI Layer 2 — Data Link)

A Layer 2 switch forwards traffic using:

✅ MAC addresses
✅ CAM / MAC Address Table
✅ Frames inside the same VLAN / broadcast domain

It’s perfect for:
✔ VLAN segmentation
✔ Access layer switching
✔ Port security + MAC learning
✔ Reducing collisions (full duplex)

But remember:

❌ No inter-VLAN routing
❌ VLANs remain isolated unless a router/L3 device routes between them

📌 Rule:
Layer 2 = Switching inside the same network

🟠 Layer 3 Switch (OSI Layer 3 — Network)

A Layer 3 switch does everything Layer 2 does — plus:

✅ Routes using IP addresses
✅ Supports SVI (Switch Virtual Interfaces)
✅ Enables Inter-VLAN Routing
✅ Can act as the Default Gateway for VLANs
✅ Supports routing protocols like:

OSPF
EIGRP
Static Routes

This is why Layer 3 switches are used at:
✔ Distribution layer
✔ Core layer
✔ High-speed campus routing
✔ VLAN gateway routing without bottlenecking a router

📌 Rule:
Layer 3 = Switching + Routing between networks

💡 Simple memory trick:

🔵 Layer 2 = Same VLAN (Same broadcast domain)
🟠 Layer 3 = Different VLANs/Subnets (Needs routing)

If you're serious about networking, you should also learn:
✔ VLAN tagging (802.1Q)
✔ SVI & gateway design
✔ ACL basics
✔ STP + redundancy
✔ Routing vs switching troubleshooting

At hashtag#ConnectQuest, we help businesses and engineers with:
✅ Network design & segmentation
✅ Secure VLAN + firewall architecture
✅ pfSense / Router setup
✅ Hosting + server security
✅ Enterprise IT & NOC-ready deployments