---
title: "What is a Cat 5 Ethernet cable and what does it look like?"  
description: "What is a Cat 5 Ethernet cable and what does it look like?"  
author: "Richardson hayes"  
published: 2018-09-19  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/50014/what-is-a-cat-5-ethernet-cable-and-what-does-it-look-like  
category: "troubleshooting"  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# What is a Cat 5 Ethernet cable and what does it look like?

What is a Cat 5 [Ethernet cable](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/12847/how-to-choose-the-right-ethernet-cable-for-industrial-applications) and what does it look like?

## Answers

### Answer by Hitesh Vohra

For many years, **Cat5 cables** have been the standard for Internet connectivity. If you're connected to the internet through a [**LAN,**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_area_network) the cable coming out of the rear of your computer is most likely Category 5. This network cable is made up of **four twisted pairs of copper** wire terminated by an RJ45 connector with a bandwidth of up to 100 MHz and can handle **speeds of 10 or 100 Mbps.** On a Cat5 line, you might be able to reach Gigabit speeds, especially if the cable is shorter, but this isn't always assured.

## [Read more](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/49901/what-to-do-if-you-see-a-grey-screen-at-startup)


---

Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/50014/what-is-a-cat-5-ethernet-cable-and-what-does-it-look-like

Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.