Given the requirements that a standard Cat 5e cable must live up to, is it possible to transfer data over it faster than the 1 Gbit for maximum 100 meters of cable for 1000BASE-T?
My old ADSL line used the same phone line that my even older 56K modem used, but achieved much higher speeds.
Of course, I realize the switches and/or routers that this Cat 5e cabling is connected to must also be replaced, but that's a lot cheaper than replacing cabling, at least in countries where labor is expensive relative to cost of materials.
Best Answer
We are getting much closer to the physical limits of twisted pair media nowadays. I doubt you will see the massive increases on the same cable we saw in the transition from dialup to DSL and the transition from 100BASE-TX to 1000BASE-T. We might see some more incremental improvements.
There is talk about new standards for speeds of 2.5 and 5 gigabit per second over twisted pair (google for 2.5 gigabit ethernet to find lots of articles about it) .
http://www.ethernetalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Ethernet-Alliance-Technology-Roadmap-FINAL.pdf indicates that there is an intention to support 2.5 gigabit and maybe 5 gigabit on 100 meters of cat5e.