TIA Cat 6A ≠ ISO Cat 6A

Approximately fifteen years ago, ANSI/TIA and ISO/IEC independently developed their respective Category 6A standards. Regrettably, there was a lack of synchronization in the Near End Crosstalk (NEXT) requirements between the two standards. However, NEXT is considered the most crucial parameter for determining network quality. This discrepancy in the NEXT requirements between the ANSI/TIA and ISO/IEC standards has led to significant confusion among users from various regions worldwide. Imagine a scenario where a property owner requests the deployment of Category 6A infrastructure. However, one must first navigate the fact that there are actually two versions of "Category 6A" due to the lack of synchronization between the ANSI/TIA and ISO/IEC standards. This situation can be highly inconvenient and perplexing.

To be more specific, TIA standard adopts a 40dB slope from frequency of 250MHz while ISO standard adopts a 30dB slope. TIA standard simply offers a relatively relaxed NEXT requirement at high frequency while ISO standard draws almost a straight line along with 1-250MHz NEXT limit all the way to 500MHz.

ISO-11801 Cat 6A Component-Rated V.S. TIA-568.2-D Cat 6A Component-Rated

Here is an example of how the critical NEXT pair combination 36 to 54 (Pair 3 to Pair 1) of a TIA Cat 6A Component jack performs in the TIA/ISO NEXT limit mixed chart.

It can be surprising to discover that a genuine TIA Cat 6A Component-Rated jack fails to meet the international standard (ISO) for the NEXT requirement by -1.50dB at a frequency of 500MHz. This discrepancy highlights the lack of synchronization between the TIA and ISO standards, further emphasizing the challenges faced by users and installers in ensuring network compatibility and performance.

Knowing what ISO Cat 6A Component really means

Curious about the performance expectations of an ISO Cat 6A Component-Rated jack in relation to both TIA and ISO NEXT requirements? Let's take the example of our top-entry ISO Cat 6A Component-Rated jack (P/N: 3013AKHA6AI) to further illustrate.

The chart provides a clear indication. Any ISO Cat 6A Component-Rated jack that successfully meets the ISO Cat 6A NEXT limit will also exceed the TIA Cat 6A NEXT limit by a higher margin. 

But it does not work the other way around. To clarify further, a TIA Cat 6A Component-Rated jack may not necessarily satisfy the requirements for both ISO Cat 6A NEXT and TIA Cat 6A NEXT.

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