Feb 23, 2023
Features of RG6 cable:
RG6 cables are made of foil shields and braided aluminum shields.
They have better insulation properties.
The inner conductor is thicker at the center of 18 AWG copper. This helps the RG6 cable provide the ability to be longer distances and better bandwidth.
The frequency range is better, which means that if you are looking for a cable for a higher frequency range, the RG6 is your answer.
Even with long cables, RG6 cables have low attenuation.
There is a problem with RG6 when you need them to work below 50 Mhz. In this case they are not efficient and you will need to use the RG59.
RG6 reports fewer loss-of-signal issues.
Features of RG59 cable:
RG59 cables are made of 95% copper shielding, which helps prevent RFI mixing.
Insulating is not as good as RG6 cables.
The inner conductor of the RG59 cable is thin – 20 AWG copper core center. This makes it smaller than RG6 in diameter.
The frequency range is lower. The RG6 can even work at 3GHz, but the RG59 may start to show inefficiencies when touching 2 GHz.
If you need to work below 50 Mhz, RG59 is your best choice.
Compared to RG59, RG6 has lower attenuation. This is a significant drawback of the RG59 cable.
Uses of RG6 and RG59
As mentioned earlier, RG6 and RG59 are used for different purposes. Let's take a look:
RG6: Satellite DSS applications, CATV,
RG59: plasma TVs, component video, video projectors and other baseband video applications, CCTV. These cables cannot be used for cable or satellite feeds because they do not have foil shielding.
Price difference: RG6 vs RG59
Although they serve completely different purposes and are not interchangeable, it's safe to say that the RG6 performs better than the RG59. This is also reflected in the price tag. RG6 coaxial cables are generally more expensive.
Now that you have a clear idea of the difference between the two common coaxial cables, we assume that you will make the right purchase choice. Remember – what you should focus on is not the price, but the usage to be able to choose the right one.