What is a horizontal cable? Think of it as a subway that connects your town to other towns. In actuality it's a cable used on a Local Area Network (LAN) and it connects the network outlet to the patch panel from behind a wall. The gray CAT 5e Horizontal UTP Bulk Cable is used to connect a network outlet with a patch panel. This cable consists of 8 solid 24 AWG wires and comes in a 250-foot reelex box.