Editing Category 3 cable (section)

{{Short description|Unshielded twisted pair cable used in telephone wiring}}
[[File:Cat 3 cable 3.jpg|thumb|A category 3 cable]]

'''Category&nbsp;3 cable''', commonly known as '''{{no wrap|Cat 3}}''' or '''station wire''', and less commonly known as '''VG''' or '''voice-grade'''<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iJVFEAAAQBAJ&dq=category+3+cable+frequency&pg=PT142 | isbn=978-1-119-80696-7 | title=CompTIA Network+ Review Guide: Exam N10-008 | date=28 September 2021 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons }}</ref> (as, for example, in [[100BaseVG]]), is an [[unshielded twisted pair]] (UTP) cable used in [[telephone]] wiring. It is part of a family of standards defined jointly by the [[Electronic Industries Alliance]] (EIA) and the [[Telecommunications Industry Association]] (TIA) and published in [[TIA/EIA-568-B]].<ref>[https://grouper.ieee.org/groups/802/3/tutorial/july98/kish_070798.pdf Evolution of Cabling Standards: TIA/EIA, ISO/IEC, CENELEC]{{sps|date=November 2022}}</ref><ref>[https://www.ieee802.org/3/minutes/jul99/B2_0799.pdf Standards Update]{{sps|date=November 2022}}</ref>

Although designed to reliably carry data up to {{nowrap|10 Mbit/s}},<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=31276 |title=CCNA: Network Media Types |publisher=[[Cisco Systems]] |access-date=2017-09-05}}</ref> modern data networks run at much higher speeds, and {{no wrap|[[Cat 5e]]}} or better cable is generally used for new installations.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ethernet: the definitive guide |last=Spurgeon |first=Charles E |date=2000 |publisher=O'Reilly |isbn=9781565929524 |page=125}}</ref> Cat 3 cables may have 2, 3, 4, or more pairs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Lawrence |date=2020-03-01 |title=Ethernet Cables Types: Cat 3, 5, 5e, 6, 6a, 7, 8 Wires Explained |url=https://www.guru99.com/ethernet-cables-types.html |access-date=2023-04-09 |website=www.guru99.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Woodward |first1=Bill |title=Cabling: The Complete Guide to Copper and Fiber-Optic Networking |date=5 March 2014 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-80738-5 |page=219 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Cabling/BjYKAwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA219 |access-date=18 November 2024 |language=en}}</ref>