I see patch panels all come rated as CAT5e, or CAT6 (and so on). I understand the difference between CAT5e and CAT6 cables, more stringent interference shielding, etc.
What I don't understand is why switches aren't rated as CAT5e or CAT6? Instead, they are just a Gigabit switch. They have a port, doesn't that make the port part of the connection? Shouldn't the port be rated CAT5e or CAT6 as well?
Edit:
Or to reverse the question: how are patch panel ports so different from switch ports that they require a rating?
Answer (for those that don't want to read through all the comments):
Because there is quite a bit of wiring between the patch panel jack's front contacts and the termination for the cable on the back, while the switch port's jacks only have 2mm of contact at the front.
Best Answer
CATx are physical cable wiring standards, specifying physical wiring characteristics of the cable, like impedance, number of conductors, twist rate, etc.
Switches do not care about the physical properties of the cable. All they care about is whether or not the cable is able to successfully transmit data. It is assumed that cabling used will be within spec for whatever speed/duplex that is required, and depending on what speed uplink is required, there may be any number of physical cabling types that will work fine.
An analogy would be high voltage wiring, such as 12-3 romex. That describes the physical properties of the cable, not necessarily what it's going to be used for. 12-3 romex is rated to ~120v @ 15A or thereabouts. The wall sockets that 12-3 romex is terminated in are not called "12-3 romex sockets". They're called NEMA 5-15 sockets. It is assumed that the cabling terminated is up to spec.