These standards are collaborative, committee driven standards and ensure that the latest findings are adhered to in all new product development. The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) have published a set of standards that address commercial buildings for telecom products and services. Last but not least, aluminum wires are more susceptible to breakdown over time, meaning they’ll need to be replaced far sooner than their pure copper counterparts will. Something as simple as several LED lights attached to a primary cable can cause this problem to arise. What’s worse, is that the cheaper wires can overheat under a dense load. One source is on record showing signals transmitted across copper-clad aluminum being only 60-68% as efficient as the same signals sent over copper wires. What you might not expect, is the magnitude of that loss. As you might expect, this comes with a loss in quality. One way manufacturers often cut costs on producing cabling is by using copper-clad (or dipped) aluminum wires instead of pure copper wires. Check If It’s Pure Copper or Copper-Clad AluminumĪs with many cost-saving measures, it’s important to always weigh the costs and benefits carefully before making a decision. So in the case of an emergency, if your installation is in a location with a high density of human workers, plenum will be a necessity. It’s essentially a fire-retardant coating that substantially reduces hazards by preventing air from contacting and igniting the heat-soaked internals of a given cable.įurthermore, the plenum-rated cables will emit a far less toxic smoke when burned. Plenum-Rated Ethernet Cables indicate a special low-flame, low-smoke insulation process required for any cable installed in air handling spaces. It should come as no surprise that oxygen can increase fire dangers. Check to See If It’s Plenum-RatedĪnother feature to check for, is a cable’s plenum-rating. You can also go to the UL website to view valid variations of the badges. Some pirates may seek to counterfeit the mark, so take a good look at them and commit them to memory. Testing is carried out in Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. The UL mark tells the customer that the product has undergone and passed the proper tests. So how can you tell if their standards have been followed to a T? Look for the following badges. They work within numerous industries, developing standards aimed at ensuring manufacturers adhere to best practices. A non-profit, they focus on testing, inspection, certification, auditing and validation. Underwriters Laboratory (UL) is a global, independent, safety science company. One of the things you should look for, as a sign of quality, are the standard UL markings. To start off, we’re going to list 5 ways you can ensure you’re investing in the best ethernet cables. After all, it’s one thing to encourage the purchase of high quality cable it’s another to define it. Let’s cover how you can avoid this downfall in your own installations. When you’re paying independent contractors to job-in by the hour to run cable, the last thing you want is to run into problems with cable failures. If you follow the comments chain, you’ll find more than one customer complains about cable failure. It’s just not worth the risk posed by cutting corners. When you’re doing work in your own home that’s one thing, but installing in a customer’s place of business is entirely another affair. Its low price point prompted some customers into taking a chance, but it should have thrown off alarm bells. Poke around on Amazon a while and you’ll find the culprit. If you’re new to Ethernet installs, you might be wondering: how can you tell what the best PoE cabling is? Well, one easy identifier is price. This just goes to show that even reliable providers like Amazon can occasionally slip.Īpparently this particular cable had a cheap vinyl jacket and poorly stranded aluminum conductors. In a recent article, Networkworld reported on poor quality Cat5e and Cat6 cabling purchased through Amazon. When you are looking for the best ethernet cables, you get what you pay for.
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