In today’s internet world where so much revolves around Wi-Fi and fibre optics the mere term Ethernet cable makes people presume old and slow. This is not really fair as despite the advent of newer methods to connect to the internet and hardwire a network, the far most common connector is the good old Ethernet cable and plug. The new cable being developed will give plenty of reasons to keep that reality in place.

The group designing the new cable is the same as always – The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (which is where the name for the type of cable comes from IEEE 802.2 CAT 5e is the common use cable right now). They have steadily increased the ability for years going from the original Cat 3 type cable that introduced broadband internet access to the world and was rated for 10 Mbps with interference problems to the now standard 5e which is rated for 10/100/1000 Mbps connections. The gigabit connection is the standard installed in most homes and small offices now.

So what is new with the 802.3 version being developed? Simple – speed and lots of it. It is in planning stages to determine whether to introduce the 400 Gbps (400 times as fast and bandwidth as available currently) or jump directly to the Terabit (1000x as fast as current generation). This is not being discussed as a someday in the distant future project. They are looking at widespread use by 2015.

The technology and ability to do both is readily available. The deciding factor will be more trying to make things more economical for consumers rather than the best speed possible. While the technology for the cable exists currently it would be a heavier cable. More importantly, the hardware capable of handling the Terabit speeds is expensive. It will drive the cost of the consumer computers up to adapt to those speeds. So while the higher speed would seem the logical choice the practical choice and more likely end result will be the 400 Gbs.

The need for the higher speeds is obvious. With more people and businesses relying on teleconferencing and telecommutes to work plus the great increase in multimedia from the internet a study conducted by the IEEE concluded internet bandwidth usage has doubled every 18 months and will continue to do so. The only way to allow that to happen is to move the data faster. By increasing the standard speed connections 400x it will allow a few years breathing room for development of the next generation of technology.

From a practical standpoint, most homes already have several mobile devices such as smartphones and laptops dropping on the internet connection at all times, and now Satellite TV, Blue Ray players, TVs, and most gaming consoles are internet connected. This places a strain on the best broadband service now as even fibre optic service to the home does not negate the need for the ethernet cable from the router to the broadband connection. The new cable should improve in home performance substantially.