If you are fitting out or refurbishing an office, the choice between Cat6 and Cat6a cabling will follow you around for the next 15 to 25 years, because structured cabling usually outlives two or three generations of the kit plugged into it. The good news is the decision is simpler than the spec sheets make it look. Here is how we talk it through with clients across Edinburgh and the North of England.
Cat6 supports 1 gigabit per second over a full 90 metre permanent link, and can carry 10 gigabits over shorter runs, typically up to about 37 to 55 metres depending on how noisy the environment is. Cat6a is certified for 10 gigabits over the full 90 metres, full stop, with no caveats about run length.
Cat6a achieves that by doubling the tested frequency from 250 MHz to 500 MHz and adding much better protection against alien crosstalk, which is interference between neighbouring cables in a bundle. The trade off is a thicker, stiffer cable that needs larger containment, bigger bend radii and a bit more care at termination.
For a small office where desks connect at 1 gigabit, the internet connection is a leased line or FTTP service of 1 gigabit or less, and there is no on site server room shifting big files around, Cat6 does the job with headroom to spare. Most of the traffic on a typical office desk today is cloud applications, video calls and email, none of which comes close to saturating a gigabit link.
Cat6 is also the pragmatic answer in older buildings, which we see a lot of in Edinburgh's city centre. Stone walls, tight risers and listed building constraints can make the larger containment Cat6a needs genuinely awkward. If the containment simply will not take the extra diameter, a well installed and properly certified Cat6 system beats a squashed, over bent Cat6a one every time.
Wi-Fi is usually the strongest argument for Cat6a. Current Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 access points can push past 1 gigabit on the uplink, and the newest standards assume multi gigabit connections back to the switch. Access point runs also tend to be the longest in the building, often out past the 55 metre limit where Cat6 drops back to 1 gigabit, so cabling the ceiling grid in Cat6a is money well spent even if the desks stay on Cat6.
Cat6a also handles Power over Ethernet better. The heavier copper conductors run cooler under PoE++ loads of up to 90 watts, which matters if you are powering access points, CCTV cameras, door controllers and LED lighting from the same cabinet. And if you own the building or expect to be in it beyond ten years, the labour is the biggest cost of any installation, so paying once for the higher grade cable usually works out cheaper than recabling later.
As a rough guide in our part of the country, a Cat6 outlet installed, terminated and tested typically lands somewhere between 40 and 70 pounds per point on a decent sized job, with Cat6a usually adding 25 to 50 percent on top. The gap comes from dearer cable and connectors, larger containment and slower termination, not from any great difference in labour rates.
The honest caveat is that per point prices swing a lot with the building. Long runs, out of hours working, lift shafts, listed buildings and asbestos surveys all move the number, so treat those figures as a starting point and get a site survey before budgeting. Whichever grade you choose, insist on every link being tested with a proper certification tester and ask for the results, because an uncertified installation is where most future faults hide.
Plenty of our office installations end up hybrid: Cat6 to the desks, Cat6a to wireless access points, CCTV and any links between cabinets. That targets the extra spend exactly where multi gigabit speeds will actually be used and keeps the overall budget close to a straight Cat6 job.
If you are still unsure, the deciding questions are how long you expect to occupy the building, whether your Wi-Fi and internet connection will exceed 1 gigabit within that time, and whether the containment can physically take the bigger cable. Answer those three and the choice usually makes itself.
Often not for the desks, if you have fewer than about 30 users on standard cloud and email workloads, Cat6 gives plenty of headroom. Consider Cat6a just for the wireless access point runs, since those are the links most likely to need more than 1 gigabit within a few years.
Yes, and it is common practice. Each cable run performs to its own grade, so many offices use Cat6 to desks and Cat6a to access points and cabinet to cabinet links, just keep the patch leads matched to the grade of the link they serve.
Usually not in a normal office, unshielded Cat6a with good alien crosstalk performance is fine for most workplaces. Shielded cable earns its place near heavy electrical plant, industrial units or dense riser bundles, and it must be properly earthed to do any good.
Send Scott the details and we'll get a realistic price back to you, usually the same working day.
Tell us about the job. A photo of the cabinet or a rough cable count is plenty to get a price started.