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Is there is no truth-serum organization validating ethernet cable category speeds?

Golfx

Active member
While researching network routers and switches to setup my Kscape terra 12TB I came across this article from Bluejeans Cables indicating that cable companies can supply CAT 5e, 6 or 6a but there is no testing that ensures what you purchased actually delivers the specified speed by category. The article indicates a 80% failure rate when the retail purchased cables were tested. I know there are specs but who checks the cables like they do for HDMI 2.1 certification?


So I switched out the cat 6a I bought from an amazon vender from my modem to my router with Bluejeans’ individually tested cable and picked up 200mbs speed increase on my 1gig line.

Am I the only one who didn’t know this? BTW Bluejeans is a reputable company I have also used for interconnects.
 
When I read your headline I actually thought of linking to that exact article :)

To answer your question posed... In a word.. No. As the article states there is no enforcement arm for category cables like there is for say HDMI. Anyone with a twisting machine and an extruder can produce something that resembles a data cable and call it CAT6a all day long with no consequences. Let the buyer beware and all of that.

That is not to say you need to go down the snake oil rabbit hole with $500 cables like this:
(BTW the comments left there are hilarious)

Besides Bluejeans, a quality cable from a manufacturer like Panduit from distributors like Anixter, Graybar or Blackbox is the way to go to ensure you are buying something that it is actually complaint to the stated spec.

 
Thanks for the reply and the outstanding humor via the comments you mentioned. They really took some time to write.

Also, thanks for the confirmation and recommendation for some other reliable cable companies. Each time I buy a new piece of hardware I wind up learning valuable knowledge I should have already known. Sigh.
 
I own a Fluke cable certifier, and test most everything we install, the data rates are almost always within one gig; if you are going above that rate, you need to look at using CAT6 or higher; I have my server closet stocked full of CAT7 and CAT8. CAT7 is a proprietary standard dev'd by a group of companies, and not a standard of IEEE, and supports up to 1GBb. CAT8 is an IEEE standard, a shielded cable that supports up to 40GB. So even if your network switches top out at one GB, running a better line can't hurt. The trick to getting high data rates is the number of twists in the RX and TX pairs. Cheap cables don't QC the geometry, so you can sub par rates. The secret of the high data rates is the shielded RJ45 cable ends and how they are terminated. Must maintain a twist geometry close to the end of the pinout in the RJ45. The high spec stuff has shielded plus; you will find no them by the metal jacket vs. transparent plastic. IF you have a bunch of old cables, they could be CAT5, 5e, or 5E, minor IEEE changes, they all due to be replaced, they were dev'd during the 10/100 days of ethernet.
Don't bother with exotics, data is data. IOIOIOIO. if the data packet doesn't arrive intact, its resent till it does. IF you have an OLD switch or HUB, get that out of your system and upgrade to a newer version, they do fail, and cause chatter. If you are having drop outs or slow data rates look at all these things including the NIC card in PC's used in the system.
 
I own a Fluke cable certifier, and test most everything we install, the data rates are almost always within one gig; if you are going above that rate, you need to look at using CAT6 or higher; I have my server closet stocked full of CAT7 and CAT8. CAT7 is a proprietary standard dev'd by a group of companies, and not a standard of IEEE, and supports up to 1GBb. CAT8 is an IEEE standard, a shielded cable that supports up to 40GB. So even if your network switches top out at one GB, running a better line can't hurt. The trick to getting high data rates is the number of twists in the RX and TX pairs. Cheap cables don't QC the geometry, so you can sub par rates. The secret of the high data rates is the shielded RJ45 cable ends and how they are terminated. Must maintain a twist geometry close to the end of the pinout in the RJ45. The high spec stuff has shielded plus; you will find no them by the metal jacket vs. transparent plastic. IF you have a bunch of old cables, they could be CAT5, 5e, or 5E, minor IEEE changes, they all due to be replaced, they were dev'd during the 10/100 days of ethernet.
Don't bother with exotics, data is data. IOIOIOIO. if the data packet doesn't arrive intact, its resent till it does. IF you have an OLD switch or HUB, get that out of your system and upgrade to a newer version, they do fail, and cause chatter. If you are having drop outs or slow data rates look at all these things including the NIC card in PC's used in the system.
Wow, great educational reply. Thank you.
 
I had issues between my main switch and a secondary switch. Because of locations, swapping the lengthy cable would not be easy. So I decided to cut and terminate with new metal ends. Never had an issue since doing this. SJ
 
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