# Category 2 cable

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Category_2_cable
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Category_2_cable.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_2_cable
> Source revision: 1322270617
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Unshielded twisted pair cabling for telephone and data communications

Twisted pair Cat 1 Cat 2 Cat 3 Cat 4 Cat 5 Cat 6 Cat 7 Cat 8 v t e

**Category 2 cable**, also known as **Cat 2**, is a grade of [unshielded twisted pair](/source/Unshielded_twisted_pair) cabling designed for [telephone](/source/Telephone) and data communications. The maximum frequency suitable for transmission over Cat 2 cable is 4 MHz, and the maximum [bandwidth](/source/Bandwidth_(computing)) is 4 Mbit/s.[1][2] Cat 2 cable contains 4 pairs of wires, or 8 wires total.[3]

Official [TIA/EIA-568](/source/TIA%2FEIA-568) standards have only been established for cables of [Cat 3](/source/Category_3_cable) ratings or above. Though not an official category standard established by TIA/EIA,[4] Category 2 has become the de facto name given to Level 2 cables originally defined by [Anixter International](/source/Anixter_International), the distributor.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

Anixter *Level 2* cable was frequently used on [ARCnet](/source/ARCnet) and 4 Mbit/s [Token Ring](/source/Token_Ring) networks, it is also used in telephone networks but it is no longer commonly used.

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Meyers1_1-0)** Meyers, Mike (2012). *All-In-One ComptTIA Network+ Exam Guide* (5th ed.). New York: [McGraw Hill](/source/McGraw_Hill). p. 69. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0071789226](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0071789226). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [819322430](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/819322430).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [CCNA: Network Media Types](http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=31276)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Carpenter1_3-0)** Carpenter, Tom (2012). *CompTIA CTP+ Convergence Technologies Professional Certification Study Guide* (1st ed.). New York: [McGraw Hill](/source/McGraw_Hill). p. 231. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0071767576](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0071767576). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [801817374](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/801817374).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Cable Categories"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160322132406/http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/39162/cable-categories). *Encyclopedia*. PC Magazine. Archived from [the original](https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,1233,t=cable+categories&i=39162,00.asp) on 22 March 2016.

v t e Twisted-pair standards for structured cabling Categories Cat 1 Cat 2 Cat 3 Cat 4 Cat 5/5e Cat 6/6a Cat 7/7a Cat 8/8.1/8.2 Connectors GG45 EtherCON Modular connector Standards ANSI/TIA-568 ISO/IEC 11801 See also Copper cable certification Ethernet over twisted pair

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Category 2 cable](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_2_cable) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_2_cable?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.