--- title: Is Cat7 a SCAM? | daily.dev description: A network engineer explains why Cat7 and Cat8 cables offer little practical value for most users. While these standards technically support higher bandwidth,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/is-cat7-a-scam--gjwjqjpyc twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Is Cat7 a SCAM? | daily.dev og:description: A network engineer explains why Cat7 and Cat8 cables offer little practical value for most users. While these standards technically support higher bandwidth,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/is-cat7-a-scam--gjwjqjpyc og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/gjWjQJpyc.png og:image:alt: Is Cat7 a SCAM? og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Is Cat7 a SCAM? **[David Bombal](https://daily.dev/sources/davidbombal)** · 2 min read · 2 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A network engineer explains why Cat7 and Cat8 cables offer little practical value for most users. While these standards technically support higher bandwidth, there are no widely available connector interfaces or network cards that can actually utilize that capacity. Cat6A is recommended as the practical sweet spot, supporting 10 Gbps transmission with ubiquitous RJ45 compatibility across servers, switches, laptops, and access points. The discussion also breaks down the differences between Cat5e (1 Gbps), Cat6 (multi-gig: 2.5–5 Gbps), and Cat6A (10 Gbps), emphasizing the importance of matching cable standard to the actual application data rate. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Is Cat 7 Ethernet cable a scam? Cat 7 is not a scam but it is largely impractical, because no RJ45 connectors or board-mount connectors exist that let consumer or server hardware actually use its higher bandwidth over twisted pair. The standard technically exists, but you cannot get 40 gig transmission through common connector interfaces, making the extra bandwidth unusable in practice. _Anyone weighing cabling upgrades can compare real-world networking trade-offs like this on daily.dev._ ### Should I buy Cat 6A or Cat 6 Ethernet cable? Cat 6A is the better choice for most deployments because it reliably delivers 10 gig transmission over standard RJ45 connectors and is compatible with servers, switches, laptops, and access points. Cat 6 typically supports only 1 gig or multi-gig speeds around 2.5 or 5 gig, so it falls short if your active equipment supports 10 gig transmission. _Developers and engineers picking network gear can track cabling and hardware trade-offs on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Everyone talks about Cat5e, Cat6, and even Cat7, but what about Cat8?](https://daily.dev/posts/everyone-talks-about-cat5e-cat6-and-even-cat7-but-what-about-cat8--nzhn8gk86) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 1 comments - [Cat8 cables are a waste of money for your house, and Cat6 does everything you need](https://daily.dev/posts/cat8-cables-are-a-waste-of-money-for-your-house-and-cat6-does-everything-you-need-pdyvhg1z8) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [3 myths about RJ45 Ethernet cables that I get tired of hearing](https://daily.dev/posts/3-myths-about-rj45-ethernet-cables-that-i-get-tired-of-hearing-uckvnhxzl) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Your Cat7 cable is probably counterfeit — here's why Cat6a is the real upgrade](https://daily.dev/posts/your-cat7-cable-is-probably-counterfeit-here-s-why-cat6a-is-the-real-upgrade-uyv5awfjn) · XDA Developers · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#networking](https://daily.dev/tags/networking) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/is-cat7-a-scam--gjwjqjpyc) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Is Cat7 a SCAM?","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/is-cat7-a-scam--gjwjqjpyc","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/is-cat7-a-scam--gjwjqjpyc"},"datePublished":"2026-07-14T17:56:12.938Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T07:37:33.296Z","description":"A network engineer explains why Cat7 and Cat8 cables offer little practical value for most users. 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The standard technically exists, but you cannot get 40 gig transmission through common connector interfaces, making the extra bandwidth unusable in practice. Anyone weighing cabling upgrades can compare real-world networking trade-offs like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Should I buy Cat 6A or Cat 6 Ethernet cable?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Cat 6A is the better choice for most deployments because it reliably delivers 10 gig transmission over standard RJ45 connectors and is compatible with servers, switches, laptops, and access points. Cat 6 typically supports only 1 gig or multi-gig speeds around 2.5 or 5 gig, so it falls short if your active equipment supports 10 gig transmission. Developers and engineers picking network gear can track cabling and hardware trade-offs on daily.dev."}}]} ```