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Author Topic: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise  (Read 2971 times)

Andrew Broughton

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Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« on: November 23, 2020, 02:55:06 PM »

People are telling me that this cable is too cheap so it must be no good.
What spec is it not meeting?

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Tim Hite

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Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #1 on: November 23, 2020, 04:45:36 PM »

People are telling me that this cable is too cheap so it must be no good.
What spec is it not meeting?

Says right in the advert 'Perfect for all your high speed networking applications' so it must be good stuff.

CM rating means it's limited usability in the USA, but seems to be about the same price as CM rated CAT5 was before it went obsolete-ish.
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Andrew Broughton

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Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #2 on: November 23, 2020, 05:17:10 PM »

Says right in the advert 'Perfect for all your high speed networking applications' so it must be good stuff.

CM rating means it's limited usability in the USA, but seems to be about the same price as CM rated CAT5 was before it went obsolete-ish.
So other than not being plenum rated (CMP) it's fine? CAT6 is CAT6 is CAT6 or ??
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Nathan Riddle

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Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #3 on: November 23, 2020, 09:54:16 PM »

Not all cable is created equally.

Must meet the ANSI/TIA/EIA-568 standard
[Revision D-2017 is the latest revision AFAIK]

It should say something like this on the jacket:
Quote
TYPE CM 24AWG 75°C (UL) E188630 CSA LL81295 CMG ETL VERIFIED TIA/EIA 560-B.2-1 CAT.6 UTP

Quote
7.4 Recognized cabling
This Standard specifies transmission media, which shall be used individually or in combination in the
backbone cabling. The recognized media are:
a) 100-ohm twisted-pair cabling: category 3, category 5e, category 6 or category 6A
(ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2)
b) multimode optical fiber cabling: 850nm laser-optimized 50/125 m is recommended;
62.5/125 m and 50/125 m (ANSI/TIA-568-C.3)
c) single-mode optical fiber cabling (ANSI/TIA-568-C.3)
Each recognized medium has individual characteristics that make it useful in a variety of situations.
One medium may not satisfy all end user requirements. It is then necessary to use more than one
medium in the backbone cabling.

Other useful Info:
https://www.cablestogo.com/learning/library/standards-specs-certs/ansi-tia#:~:text=The%20ANSI%2FTIA%20568%20C,proper%20product%20for%20their%20needs.
https://blog.siemon.com/standards/ansitia-568-c-2-copper-cabling-and-components

---

Note(s):
Most cable will test ABOVE what it is rated for.
Cat6 gives nothing over what Cat5e can do unless we're talking HDBaseT, where you should be using Cat6A anyways.
Unless it says "ETL VERIFIED" I don't consider it real.
I don't pay much attention to pricing.

---

This is super cheap, but very good: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HEM68XA/
This is expensive, but very good: https://www.icecable.com/products/cat-6a-shielded?category_id=2&q_id=59403
This is expensive, but total junk: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Southwire-1-000-ft-24-4-CAT-5E-Plenum-Blue-Data-Cable/3332766
This is super cheap, but total junk: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KO6UN6Q/
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Brian Jojade

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Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #4 on: November 24, 2020, 08:45:10 AM »

Networking cable needs to be able to pass spec.  Most (not all) cable can pass spec when fresh pulled out of a box.  However after being moved and jostled around and pulled around corners, you'll find the cheaper stuff starts to show its weaknesses.  All of a sudden, you start to run into issues where the cable simply refuses to work properly for no reason.  It's pure frustration.

Additionally, some cable is just a nightmare to work with, being difficult to terminate, or difficult to tell the internal wires apart, etc.

That being said, if it's truly cat6 cable that is installed and certified, once in place and not touched it shouldn't matter.

Of course, there are those unscrupulous manufacturers that don't give a rats arse about rules and may very well ship some garbage that has a cat6 label on it, so keep that in mind as well.  If you find one supplier that's suspiciously lower than everyone else on the market, you may want to stay away.
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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #5 on: November 24, 2020, 09:49:36 AM »


This is super cheap, but very good: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HEM68XA/


I have been using these for some time for everything else other than my D Snake (that uses ethercon connections).
So mixer > switch > router.
Lighting art net dongle > switch > router.
Router > Ubiquiti POE > Mesh WAP.
So 6 in total....They have been the most reliable ethernet cables I have ever used.
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Hal Bissinger/COMSYSTEC

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Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #6 on: November 24, 2020, 07:47:04 PM »

People are telling me that this cable is too cheap so it must be no good.
What spec is it not meeting?
Buying no-name cable off the internet is like buying a car from a used car salesman. You can't believe anything they say.

-Hal
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Tim Hite

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Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #7 on: November 25, 2020, 02:36:28 AM »

I have been using these for some time for everything else other than my D Snake (that uses ethercon connections).
So mixer > switch > router.
Lighting art net dongle > switch > router.
Router > Ubiquiti POE > Mesh WAP.
So 6 in total....They have been the most reliable ethernet cables I have ever used.

Are you using all Ubiquiti stuff there? USG router or something else?
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Debbie Dunkley

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Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2020, 05:59:30 PM »

Are you using all Ubiquiti stuff there? USG router or something else?

I use the Ubiquiti as an extender to the router which has worked great. This is the way we set it up when I first got it - one of the reasons at the time being so that I can connect directly to the router if need be for quickness when testing at home and such. Everything is prewired and racked so easy to pull out real quick to mess with.
My plan was at some point to only use the Ubiquiti mesh and re-program everything - but it's been so reliable this way I don't want to change anything. I'm getting crazy good distances from the Mesh to my iPad - probably more than twice as far as I did with just the router.
Everything goes through a rack mounted ethernet switch - hence why I need 6 cables.
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ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Is all "CAT6" cable the same, performance-wise
« Reply #8 on: November 25, 2020, 05:59:30 PM »


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