Cat7 / Cat7A RJ45 and Keystone Jack Compatibility

CAT7 and CAT7A Cable

There have been many questions and concerns with CAT 7 and CAT 7A cable and the wiring compatibility. With the cable being fairly new to the general market the answers can be unclear or even difficult to find. In this article I will cover the basics of CAT7A cable and the type of products that are compatible. For the sake of cutting down repetition, I will just mention CAT7A which will cover both CAT7 and CAT7A cable.

What is CAT7A Cable?

CAT7A Cable is high speed 10 Gigabit F-Type cable consisting of 4 twisted pair conductors. The “A” in CAT7 stands for Augmented, which has both shielding for each twisted pair and an overall shielding (S/FTP). The extra jacketing allows an increased bandwidth of up to 1000MHz. The individual pairs are shielded with foil for protection against electromagnetic interference (EMI), which is crucial for electrical noisy environments such as data centers. The overall braided shielding which wraps around all 4 pairs provided additional protection against EMI. CAT7A cable also comes with a drain wire to ground the electricity once terminated.

Let’s Get Technical!

Infinity Cable offers CAT7A Cable in 23AWG size, consisting of solid bare copper conductors for maximum performance.

Application:

• Structure cabling for horizontal and building backbone cable.
• Transmission of digital and analogue for data, video and audio applications.
• Metal shielded and braided providing good protection from EMI noice.
• Beyond IEEE 802.3an 10GBASE-T and legacy speeds.
• CDDI/ ATM/ Token Ring.
• IEEE 802.3af (PoE) / IEEE 802.3at (PoE+).

CAT 7A is used for the infrastructure of Gigabit Ethernet. With the performance up to 1000MHz it is perfect for video distribution of 4K and Ultra HD video at distances up to 100 meters. It is also recommended for use when wiring your smart home.

Compatible RJ45 and Keystone Jack

For those that have done their research are probably aware of the only true CAT7A compatible RJ45 and Keystone Jacks are ARJ45/GG45 by Nexans or TERA. These are popular amongst the European market. However, now that there is a growing popularity in America we have worked with engineers to develop CAT7A RJ45 and Keystones. These are technically CAT8 RJ45 / Keystones, but are backwards compatible with CAT7A allowing the highest performance possible for CAT7A cable. The cost was quite steep when released, but now that production is able to cut down costs these items have dropped by ~50%.

Still need more help choosing the right keystone jack, head on over to how to choose a keystone jack.

We highly recommend using RJ45 Field Termination opposed to the basic RJ45 plugs. The reason being CAT7A cable is very sensitive and if not terminated perfectly it can hinder performance dramatically. With RJ45 Field Termination you do not have to worry about loose conductors and suitable for just about any level installer. If you’re paying for premium high end cable, why not pay a bit extra to ensure you’re getting the highest performance possible.

Here are links to our CAT7A cable and compatible connectors:

CAT7A CMR (Riser) 1000FT. 23AWG, S/FTP

CAT7A CMP (Plenum) 1000FT. 22AWG, S/FTP

CAT7A/ CAT8 Keystone Jack

CAT7A/ CAT8 RJ45 Field Termination Plug

I hope that this article was helpful with understanding the basics of CAT7 and CAT7A Cable. Should you have any questions feel free to contact our support team directly at support@infinity-cable.com. Our team is always more than happy to help assist you whether it be educating or guiding you through the ordering process.