Do I need Cat6A, or is Cat6 enough?

Two conditions make Cat6A the right part. The first is 10GBASE-T over a full-length channel: Cat6 supports 10G only over a shortened distance and only where alien crosstalk between adjacent cables is controlled, while Cat6A is specified to 500 MHz and constructed to hold that channel over the full run. The second is high-wattage PoE in a dense bundle, where the heavier Cat6A conductor runs cooler and keeps insertion loss in budget. If the ports are gigabit and will still be gigabit at the next refresh, Cat6 cords are the honest choice.

Should I buy shielded or unshielded Cat6A cords?

Decide it as a system, not a cable. Shielded cords — F/UTP, S/FTP, STP — only deliver anything when the jacks, panels and pathway are shielded and the shield is bonded, so a shielded cord plugged into an unshielded field is simply a stiffer, heavier cable. Where the environment genuinely calls for it — runs beside heavy electrical plant, dense high-speed patch fields, industrial floors, or a site standard that is shielded end to end — buy shielded throughout. Otherwise unshielded snagless cords are easier to route, easier to terminate and cheaper.

What is the difference between a slim Cat6A cord and a standard one?

Conductor gauge, and what it costs you. Ultra-slim cords use 28 to 34 AWG conductors, which makes the cable far thinner and much easier to route through a dense cabinet or a full patch field — real airflow and real bend room. The trade is insertion loss: a thinner conductor attenuates more, so slim assemblies carry a shorter maximum length than a standard 26 or 24 AWG cord. Use slim where density is the constraint and lengths are short, and standard cords where the run has to reach.

Can I use a patch cord for the permanent link between floors or rooms?

No. The permanent link is solid-conductor cable pulled through the pathway and terminated onto jacks and panels at both ends; patch cords are stranded assemblies built to be flexed and re-plugged at the ends of that link. Chaining cords to make a long run gives you extra connection points, uncontrolled routing and, eventually, a broken conductor at a strain point. Pull bulk cable for the permanent link — the 1000 ft 10G-certified CMR box among the picks below is that part — and use cords only at the ends.

Are these Cat6A cables TAA compliant?

It is a per-part-number fact rather than a family rule, and this page is deliberately mixed: several parts carry a TAA marking in the manufacturer's own catalog title while otherwise similar parts in the same range do not. Where our catalog data records a part number as TAA compliant, that is what we are reporting. Where an order carries a country-of-origin clause, request a TAA-verified quote and read the designation on the exact part number ordered — screening is performed before the quote and screening results are available with it, tied to that part number and never restated as a Uniqcli certification.

Can business, government and education buyers order these?

Every line Uniqcli quotes is sourced through US distribution and screened for TAA country-of-origin and NDAA §889 status before checkout — with documentation tied to the specific part number, not a product family.

Best Cat6A Patch Cables for Office and Data-Center Runs

Shielded and unshielded Cat6A cords for 10G links and PoE runs — snagless, slim and LSZH constructions, plus the bulk boxes the permanent link is pulled from.

Cat6A patch cables in stock at Uniqcli

How to choose →

A curated selection with live pricing — in-stock lines first, then back-ordered lines with a typical lead time. Every line is sourced through US distribution and screened for NDAA §889 status before checkout, with TAA verified on request.

Shielded snagless

StarTech.com

StarTech 8ft CAT6a Ethernet Cable

C6ASPAT8GR

StarTech's 8 ft Cat6A shielded snagless patch cord, UL-certified to TIA wiring and rated for 100 W PoE — the shielded default for a 10GbE patch field.

$18.85In stock

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Ultra-slim 34 AWG

StarTech.com

StarTech 14ft Blue Ultra Slim CAT6a Ethernet Cable, Snagless, FTP Bare…

N6APATSTP34BLS-14FT

A 14 ft ultra-slim Cat6A cord in 34 AWG bare copper with an F/UTP shield and snagless boots — the assembly to use when a full cabinet has run out of bend room.

$17.47In stock

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LSZH S/FTP

StarTech.com

StarTech 10ft CAT6a Ethernet Cable, Black Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH)…

NLBK-10F-CAT6A-PATCH

StarTech's 10 ft Cat6A cord in a low-smoke zero-halogen jacket, S/FTP shielded and snagless at 10 GbE with 100 W PoE support — for enclosed occupied spaces.

$16.02In stock

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Shielded STP, 12 ft

Eaton

Tripp Lite by Eaton Cat6a 10G Snagless Shielded STP Ethernet Cable…

N262-012-BK

Tripp Lite by Eaton's Cat6A 10G snagless shielded STP cord at 12 ft, PoE-rated — a straightforward shielded assembly for a shielded jack and panel field.

$37.87In stock

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Molded ultra-slim

Eaton

Eaton Tripp Lite Series Cat6a 10G Molded Ultra-Slim UTP Ethernet Cable…

N261-UR10-BL

The Eaton Tripp Lite Cat6A 10G molded ultra-slim UTP cord at 10 ft — an unshielded slim assembly for high-density cabinets where the field is not shielded.

$24.70In stock

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1000 ft CMR bulk

Eaton

Eaton Tripp Lite Series Cat6a 10G-Certified Solid Core UTP CMR PVC Bulk…

N223-01K-BL

Eaton Tripp Lite's Cat6A 10G-certified solid-core UTP bulk cable, 1000 ft in a CMR PVC jacket — the permanent link the cords on this page plug into, terminated onto panels at both ends.

$1,179.96In stock

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Snagless UTP, 6 ft

4XEM

4XEM 6FT Cat6A Snagless RJ45 Ethernet Patch Cable…

4XC6APATCH6BL

A 4XEM 6 ft Cat6A snagless RJ45 patch cable in pure copper UTP, titled at 10 Gbps — the short unshielded cord for a desk drop or a switch jumper.

$8.29In stock

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Snagless UTP, 25 ft

4XEM

4XEM 25FT Cat6A Snagless RJ45 Ethernet Patch Cable…

4XC6APATCH25BL

The same 4XEM pure-copper Cat6A UTP construction at 25 ft, for the longer in-room runs where a slim assembly would be the wrong choice.

$13.18In stock

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Slim F/UTP, molded

Black Box

Black Box CAT6A 500-MHz STR Patch CBL Slim Molded Snagless Boot

CAT6APCS-010-BL

Black Box's 500 MHz Cat6A slim molded snagless-boot cord in F/UTP with a CM PVC jacket at 10 ft — foil-shielded density without a full braid.

$19.52In stock

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Locking S/FTP

Black Box

Black Box CAT6A 650-MHz Locking Snagless Patch Cable S/FTP CM PVC BL 7FT

C6APC80S-BL-07

A Black Box 650 MHz Cat6A locking snagless S/FTP cord at 7 ft — the locking boot is what stops a critical patch being pulled by a neighbouring hand in a busy field.

$19.86In stock

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Shielded STP, 3 ft

Axiom Memory Solutions

Axiom 3FT CAT6A Snagless Shielded (STP) Patch Cable

AXG97656

Axiom's 3 ft Cat6A snagless shielded STP patch cable in blue — a short shielded jumper for a top-of-rack or switch-to-panel hop.

Titled TAA Compliant — a per-part fact to confirm on the exact colour ordered.

$14.56In stock

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Shielded plenum

AddOn

AddOn 6ft Green CAT6A Shielded Plenum-Rated Ethernet Cable Snagless…

ADD-6FCAT6ASP-GN

An AddOn 6 ft Cat6A shielded plenum-rated cord with a snagless clear boot — the CMP jacket for a cord that lives in an air-handling space.

$44.16Back-ordered

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Shielded PVC, 3 ft

AddOn

AddOn 3ft White CAT6A Shielded PVC Ethernet Cable Snagless Easy Clear…

ADD-3FCAT6AS-WE-TAA

AddOn's 3 ft Cat6A shielded PVC cord with a snagless easy-clear boot in white — a short shielded jumper in a documentation colour.

Titled TAA.

$23.00Back-ordered

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Slim UTP, PoE

Legrand

C2G 15ft (4.5m) Cat6a Snagless Unshielded (UTP) Slim Ethernet Cable

C2G30122

A C2G 15 ft Cat6A snagless unshielded slim Ethernet cable rated for PoE — the unshielded slim option in a mid-length for a dense patch field.

$21.30In stock

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26 AWG S/FTP cord

PANDUIT

Panduit Shielded Cat6A 26 AWG S/FTP Patch Cord, 3m, IG

S6XPC3MIG

Panduit's shielded Cat6A 26 AWG S/FTP patch cord at 3 m with an isolated-ground identifier — the structured-cabling manufacturer's own cord for a shielded Panduit field.

$23.55Back-ordered

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UTP snagless, 10 ft

Comprehensive Connectivity

Comprehensive Cat6a Unshielded (UTP) Snagless Ethernet Patch Cable Blue…

CAT6A-UTP-10BLU

Comprehensive's 10 ft Cat6A unshielded snagless patch cable in blue — a plain, well-specified UTP cord for a standard patch field.

$18.04Back-ordered

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Browse all 48,515 network and connector cables

Not the right one above? Filter the whole range by the specs that matter — live pricing and honest availability on every row, the same NDAA §889 screening before checkout, and TAA verified on request.

Showing 24 of 48,515 network and connector cables

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Specifications are read from the manufacturer product title as supplied to us; where a value is not stated it is left blank rather than estimated. Every line is screened for NDAA §889 status before checkout, with TAA verified on request.

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Cat6A exists for two reasons, and both of them are about the hard cases. The first is 10GBASE-T over a full 100-metre channel: Cat6 can carry 10G, but only over a shortened distance and only when alien crosstalk between adjacent cables behaves, while Cat6A is specified to 500 MHz and built — with a thicker jacket, tighter twist and often a foil or braid — to hold that channel over the full run. The second is heat: as PoE budgets climbed to 60 W and 90 W, the larger conductor and better construction of a Cat6A cord became the thing that keeps a dense bundle within its temperature rise. Every row on this page names Cat6A in the manufacturer's own title.

The choice inside the category is mostly construction. Unshielded (U/UTP) snagless cords are the default for a patch field and a desk; foil- or braid-shielded (F/UTP, S/FTP) cords are what you use where the run passes electrical plant, in a dense high-speed patch field, or where the site standard is shielded end to end — but a shielded cord terminated into an unshielded panel has no shield, so shielding is a system decision rather than a per-cable one. Slim and ultra-slim cords in 28–34 AWG buy back airflow and cable-management space in a full cabinet, at the cost of a shorter maximum length; standard 26–24 AWG cords are the long ones.

Jacket rating and length are the last two. PVC (CM) is the general-purpose cord jacket, LSZH is specified where smoke and halogen matter in an enclosed occupied space, and plenum (CMP) is for air-handling spaces — the rating follows the pathway and is set by the code edition your jurisdiction has adopted, not by a product page. Buy lengths to fit the pathway rather than rounding up: a coiled excess in a cabinet is a management problem and, on shielded cable, a bend-radius problem. The grid here is fenced to Cat6A and is overwhelmingly finished cords; the bulk 1000 ft boxes that the permanent link is actually pulled from are in the picks. Cards carry live pricing and current availability from the catalog.

Buyer's checklist

How to choose Cat6A patch cables

Buy Cat6A where the link has to hold 10GBASE-T over a full-length channel, or where a dense bundle carries high-wattage PoE. For a 1G desk drop with a short cord, Cat6 is usually the honest answer and the money is better spent on the permanent link.
Decide shielded or unshielded at the system level, not per cord. F/UTP and S/FTP cords only do anything when the jack, panel and pathway are shielded and bonded too; a shielded cord into an unshielded field is a heavier cable with no benefit.
Use slim cords where density is the constraint and standard cords where length is. Ultra-slim 28–34 AWG assemblies free real airflow and bend room in a full cabinet but carry a shorter maximum length; the thicker 26–24 AWG cords are the ones to reach across a room.
Match the jacket to the pathway. CM/PVC is the general-purpose cord jacket, LSZH is specified for enclosed occupied spaces where smoke and halogen matter, and CMP plenum is for air-handling spaces — and which one a given run needs comes from the adopted code edition and the authority having jurisdiction, not from a datasheet.
Pull solid, patch stranded. The permanent link is solid-conductor bulk cable terminated onto panels at both ends; cords are stranded and built to be flexed and re-plugged. A solid conductor used as a patch lead eventually breaks at the strain point.
Use colour as documentation. Every cord here names its jacket colour in its own title, and one colour per service, per floor or per VLAN is the cheapest labelling scheme you will ever buy, because it survives the label falling off.
Where the purchase order carries an origin clause, read TAA on the part number itself. Several parts on this page carry a TAA marking in the manufacturer's own title and others in the same family do not; screening is performed before the quote, tied to the specific part number.

Cat6 or Cat6A: where the extra cable actually pays

The honest short answer is that Cat6A buys you a full-length 10G channel and better behaviour under heat, and nothing else. Cat6 is specified to 250 MHz and supports 10GBASE-T only over a reduced distance and only where alien crosstalk from neighbouring cables is controlled; Cat6A is specified to 500 MHz and is constructed — larger conductors, tighter twist, more separation and often a foil or overall braid — to hold 10G across a full 100-metre channel in a real bundle. If the switch ports are 1G and will still be 1G at the next refresh, Cat6 patch cords are not a compromise, they are the right part.

The second argument is thermal and it has become the more common one. A bundle of cords carrying 60 W or 90 W PoE heats up, and temperature rise raises insertion loss, which shortens the usable channel. The heavier conductor in a Cat6A cord runs cooler at the same current, which is why high-PoE deployments — access points, cameras, lighting, displays — increasingly specify Cat6A even where the data rate never exceeds a gigabit. Several cords on this page state PoE support explicitly in the manufacturer's own title.

Cords, bulk and the permanent link

A Cat6A job is two purchases that behave differently. The permanent link is solid-conductor bulk cable — the 1000 ft 10G-certified CMR box among the picks is exactly this — pulled through the pathway, terminated onto jacks and panels at both ends, tested and then left alone. It is not something to plug into anything. The cords are the other half: stranded assemblies at the ends and the short jumps, moved and re-plugged, and available here in unshielded snagless, shielded STP and S/FTP, ultra-slim, LSZH and plenum constructions in a wide spread of lengths and colours.

Buy them as one order. Send us the drop count, the pathway and jacket requirements, the colour scheme, whether the field is shielded, and the lengths, and we will come back with part numbers, availability, lead times and volume pricing — with the keystone jacks, patch panels, cable management and the structured-cabling labour alongside the cable, so the small parts and the install date stay on one document. Where the order carries an origin clause, request a TAA-verified quote and screening is performed before it is issued.

Common questions

Do I need Cat6A, or is Cat6 enough?: Two conditions make Cat6A the right part. The first is 10GBASE-T over a full-length channel: Cat6 supports 10G only over a shortened distance and only where alien crosstalk between adjacent cables is controlled, while Cat6A is specified to 500 MHz and constructed to hold that channel over the full run. The second is high-wattage PoE in a dense bundle, where the heavier Cat6A conductor runs cooler and keeps insertion loss in budget. If the ports are gigabit and will still be gigabit at the next refresh, Cat6 cords are the honest choice.
Should I buy shielded or unshielded Cat6A cords?: Decide it as a system, not a cable. Shielded cords — F/UTP, S/FTP, STP — only deliver anything when the jacks, panels and pathway are shielded and the shield is bonded, so a shielded cord plugged into an unshielded field is simply a stiffer, heavier cable. Where the environment genuinely calls for it — runs beside heavy electrical plant, dense high-speed patch fields, industrial floors, or a site standard that is shielded end to end — buy shielded throughout. Otherwise unshielded snagless cords are easier to route, easier to terminate and cheaper.
What is the difference between a slim Cat6A cord and a standard one?: Conductor gauge, and what it costs you. Ultra-slim cords use 28 to 34 AWG conductors, which makes the cable far thinner and much easier to route through a dense cabinet or a full patch field — real airflow and real bend room. The trade is insertion loss: a thinner conductor attenuates more, so slim assemblies carry a shorter maximum length than a standard 26 or 24 AWG cord. Use slim where density is the constraint and lengths are short, and standard cords where the run has to reach.
Can I use a patch cord for the permanent link between floors or rooms?: No. The permanent link is solid-conductor cable pulled through the pathway and terminated onto jacks and panels at both ends; patch cords are stranded assemblies built to be flexed and re-plugged at the ends of that link. Chaining cords to make a long run gives you extra connection points, uncontrolled routing and, eventually, a broken conductor at a strain point. Pull bulk cable for the permanent link — the 1000 ft 10G-certified CMR box among the picks below is that part — and use cords only at the ends.
Are these Cat6A cables TAA compliant?: It is a per-part-number fact rather than a family rule, and this page is deliberately mixed: several parts carry a TAA marking in the manufacturer's own catalog title while otherwise similar parts in the same range do not. Where our catalog data records a part number as TAA compliant, that is what we are reporting. Where an order carries a country-of-origin clause, request a TAA-verified quote and read the designation on the exact part number ordered — screening is performed before the quote and screening results are available with it, tied to that part number and never restated as a Uniqcli certification.
Can business, government and education buyers order these?: Every line Uniqcli quotes is sourced through US distribution and screened for TAA country-of-origin and NDAA §889 status before checkout — with documentation tied to the specific part number, not a product family.

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