i thought it's been proven that even cat5 (not even cat5e) can handle gigabit speeds...? this is going back to my early college/late high school years, but i was pretty sure the cat5e specification was just released around the time and the cat6 specification was still in-progress, but cat5 was capable.
a quick check on wikipedia gleans the following:
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It is most commonly used for 100 Mbit/s networks, such as 100BASE-TX Ethernet, although IEEE 802.3ab defines standards for 1000BASE-T – Gigabit Ethernet over category 5 cable
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Half-duplex gigabit links connected through hubs are allowed by the specification but in the marketplace full-duplex with switches are normal
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IEEE 802.3ab, ratified in 1999, defines gigabit Ethernet transmission over unshielded twisted pair (UTP) category 5, 5e, or 6 cabling and became known as 1000BASE-T. With the ratification of 802.3ab, gigabit Ethernet became a desktop technology as organizations could use their existing copper cabling infrastructure.
-Roach