 Cat6 vs Cat7, what's the difference between a Cat6 and Cat7 Ethernet cable? Cat6 and Cat7 cables are different in several distinctive ways. Firstly Cat7 cables have a greater amount of shielding. Each pair of cores and the overall cable is shielded. In contrast, standard Cat6 is UTP or unshielded. There are Cat6 shielded versions but only around the whole cable rather than the individual pairs. Furthermore, the cable twists and construction are different to create a better noise to signal ration protection. The above results in a larger cable and bend radius. The biggest difference in the cables is the transmission capabilities. Cat6 cable operates at 250 MHz whereas Cat7 cable operates at 600 MHz. Furthermore, Cat6 is limited to 1 gigabit Ethernet at standard 90 meters distances. However, Cat7 is capable of 10 gigabit Ethernet at the same distance. Cat7 questions are starting to increase in addition to our usual Cat6 cable FAQ queries.