You may have heard the term “Cat” before when it comes to Ethernet cables (e.g. Cat 5, Cat 6), but what about when someone is talking about cellular? “Cat” refers to the category of a 4G LTE modem (5G does NOT use categories). 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) is a cellular technology in which both voice and data service can operate.
Categories are used to define the performance specs of the LTE device. They range from 1 to 22 and differ with regards to the frequency band support as well as the upload and download speeds they are capable of running. For example, Cat 1 modems can download at up to 10 Mbps (megabits), while Cat 22 modems are going to receive download speeds of up to 4 Gbps (gigabits).
This is generally what most 5G modems are backwards compatible with. This is because in some cases, 5G network performance may be similar to that of 4G LTE. Cat 20 is a better choice for users needing more download bandwidth. Enterprise businesses like warehouses, hotels, or universities may opt for this type of modem. Throughput maxes out at 2000Mbps down and 300Mbps up.
LTE Category |
Max Download Speed |
Max Upload Speed |
10 Mbps |
5 Mbps |
|
100 Mbps |
50 Mbps |
|
150 Mbps |
50 Mbps |
|
300 Mbps |
50 Mbps |
|
300 Mbps |
100 Mbps |
|
600 Mbps |
75 Mbps |
|
600 Mbps |
100 Mbps |
|
Cat 15 |
800 Mbps |
226 Mbps |
1200 Mbps |
300 Mbps |
|
Cat 20 |
2000 Mbps |
300 Mbps |
4000 Mbps |
450 Mbps |