What is Firewire 800?

FireWire 800 refers to any FireWire port that conforms to the IEEE 1394b standard. This standard, which amends the IEEE 1394 1995 and IEEE 1394a 2000 standards, upgrades the prior standards by allowing for faster speeds (up to 800 Mbit/s), new cabling, and compatibility with the FireWire 400 standard. New cabling includes CAT5 unshielded twisted pairs and UTP5 glass and plastic optical fiber. The new amendment is fully interoperable with
1394a 2000 and 1394 1995 standards. It uses a 9 pin connector. By using a 9 pin to 6 pin or 9 pin to 4: pin FireWire cable, you can connect FireWire 400 devices to a FireWire 800 chain.