Twisted pair cabling

Correct Answer: Category 6

The best cable to maintain the new standard of a network infrastructure upgraded with category 6 twisted pair cables would be the 'Category 6' cable. This is because it is the same type and category as the newly upgraded cables, thus ensuring consistent network performance and capacity throughout all interconnected devices and sectors of the company's network. The 'Category 5', 'Category 5e', and 'Category 3' cables are not the best choice as they do not fully support the network performance and capacity of the 'Category 6' cables. As these categories are older and offer less network performance and capacity, using them could potentially cause limitations or issues in the network infrastructure.

Correct Answer: Category 5e

The most suitable cable for a 100 meters long connection between two switches would be a Category 5e cable. Category 5e (Cat5e) cables can handle speeds up to 1000 Mbps which is sufficient for most network needs and they can be used in segments up to 100 meters long without experiencing a significant loss in signal quality, making them ideal for the situation described. Let's look at the other options: Category 5 cables have been superseded by Cat5e due to their lower capacity, delivering speeds only up to 100 Mbps. Category 3 cables are even older and have much less capacity, only supporting speeds up to 10 Mbps. Coaxial cables, while they can handle longer distances, they are less suitable for connecting switches, largely due to their single-channel nature restricting them to either data or voice traffic, but not both simultaneously unlike twisted pair cables. Therefore, Cat5e is the best choice among these.

Correct Answer: Category 5e

The minimum cable category necessary to support the required high-speed Ethernet connection over a distance of 50 meters is Category 5e. Category 5e (or Cat 5e) supports Ethernet speeds of up to 1 Gbps, which is sufficient for most high-speed Ethernet applications. Category 3 is an older standard that only supports Ethernet speeds of up to 10 Mbps, which is not ideal for high-speed connections. Category 5, while being capable of 100 Mbps, is nowadays considered outdated. This is due to the prevalence and little price difference of the higher standard Category 5e, which practically replaced it. Lastly, Category 6 is capable of supporting even higher speeds up to 10 Gbps, but it is not necessary for a high-speed Ethernet connection, and the extra capacity would not be utilised unless the devices and network infrastructure can support these higher speeds, thereby making Cat 5e the most practical and cost-effective choice.