Category Cables
Windy City Wire manufactures and supplies low-voltage Category Cable designed for commercial and industrial environments. Built in the United States under our SmartWire® brand, our portfolio covers core network needs from everyday cat5e wire to high-performance cat 6a cabling and cat 7 cables. We sell directly to integrators, contractors, and distributors, providing products and solutions that help you install faster, pull cleaner, and document jobs with confidence.
Why partner with Windy City Wire for Category Cable
Ideal applications
Available constructions (summary)
What you can expect from SmartWire® Category Cable
Lengths and options
Summary: value for your next project
When you need dependable Category Cable for demanding commercial work—whether cat5e wire for everyday links, cat6 cables for higher bandwidth, cat 6a cabling for 10 Gigabit backbones, or specialized cat 7 cables for high-EMI areas—Windy City Wire delivers. Our SmartWire® products combine proven electrical performance with features that cut labor, reduce waste, and simplify documentation. Partner with us to plan your bill of materials, standardize colors, and get the right construction for each pathway so your crews can finish faster with reliable results.
Category Cables for Professional Low-Voltage Systems
Windy City Wire supplies a complete range of Category Cable solutions built for commercial and industrial environments. We partner directly with integrators, contractors, and distributors to support everything from everyday network drops to specialized, high-bandwidth, and high-EMI applications. Our portfolio spans multiple performance levels and constructions to match your design, code, and budget requirements—delivered in 1000 ft lengths for consistent planning and installation.
What’s in the portfolio
Choose the right Category Cable for the bandwidth, distance, and environment your project demands:
Construction and options
Where Category Cables fit in modern low-voltage systems
Guidance on selecting the right cable
Standards and performance you can specify
Our Category Cable offerings align with widely accepted industry standards for Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6A performance and are available in both shielded and unshielded constructions. Many Cat5e designs provide 350 MHz performance headroom, Cat6 supports 250 MHz, and Cat6A supports the bandwidth required for 10G. Cat7 options add shielding-focused performance where that specification is required.
Common system integrations
Why integrators and contractors choose Windy City Wire
- A complete Category Cable lineup—from cat5e wire and cat6 cables to cat 6a cabling and cat 7 cables—engineered for consistent performance across enterprise, campus, and industrial environments.
- Options for plenum, riser, non-plenum, shielded/unshielded, and outdoor use give you one source for nearly any pathway or code requirement.
- Solid bare copper conductors at 24, 23, and 22 AWG support stable transmission, better PoE performance, and reliable termination.
- Available in 1000 ft lengths to simplify quoting, takeoffs, and field deployment across large projects.
Plan your next project
Whether you are standardizing on Cat6 for campus drops, deploying Cat6A for 10G backbones and high-density wireless, or specifying shielded cat 7 cables in high-EMI zones, Windy City Wire can help you match the right construction and category to each application. Contact us for submittals, takeoff support, and category selection guidance tailored to your scope.
These SmartWire Category Cable options are available in multiple conductor sizes: 24 AWG, 23 AWG, and 22 AWG. That range covers popular builds for cat5e wire, cat6 cables, cat 6a cabling, and cat 7 cables.
SmartWire offers an extensive selection of jacket and stripe color combinations to help standardize identification in the field, including: White-Blue/Blue; White-Orange/Orange; White-Green/Green; White-Brown/Brown; Blue/White; Orange/White; Blue/White with Blue Stripe; Orange/White with Orange Stripe; Green/White with Green Stripe; Brown/White with Brown Stripe. Custom jacket and stripe colors are also available—contact Windy City Wire to discuss your standardization needs.
These SmartWire Category Cables use solid bare copper conductors, ideal for permanent infrastructure runs. If you need stranded patch-cord solutions for flexible, short connections, contact us for options.
At Windy City Wire we manufacture and stock SmartWire Category Cable in 1,000 ft as the standard length. Select items are also available in additional lengths such as 100 ft, 250 ft, and 500 ft. FastFIND Footage Markers on SmartWire help you quickly estimate remaining cable and plan efficient pulls.
Our SmartWire Category Cable is packaged in our patented RackPack carton as part of the complete RackPack Field Systems Solution. The system is designed to improve safety and efficiency while reducing labor. All stock SmartWire includes SmartWire Glide lubrication on the jacket to reduce pull friction by up to 70%. Learn more about our RackPack
CAT5e (Enhanced): Typically 24 AWG; up to 1 GbE to 100 m; 100 MHz bandwidth; great value for basic data networks.
CAT6: Commonly 23 AWG; up to 1 GbE to 100 m and 10 GbE to ~55 m; 250 MHz bandwidth; tighter twists and improved crosstalk performance over CAT5e.
CAT6A: Often 23 AWG; designed for 10 GbE to 100 m; 500 MHz bandwidth; better alien-crosstalk control and larger OD; ideal for high-density PoE and Wi‑Fi backhaul—perfect for cat 6a cabling upgrades.
CAT7: Typically 22 AWG with individually shielded pairs and overall shielding; 600+ MHz bandwidth; supports 10 GbE to 100 m with superior noise immunity; common where maximum EMI protection is required—see our cat 7 cables.
Across the SmartWire lineup you can choose unshielded or shielded constructions (including outdoor/direct-burial options) to match your environment and performance needs for any Category Cable deployment.
Color conventions vary by organization, but common practices include:
SmartWire’s wide range of jacket and stripe combinations helps you standardize these conventions across all cat5e wire, cat6 cables, cat 6a cabling, and cat 7 cables in your facility.