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Author Topic: Where to get reasonable price reasonable quality Cat5e patch cables?  (Read 8151 times)

sheddyian

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Last year I bought some generic unbranded Cat5e patch cables on Amazon, from a 3rd party supplier.  I think I got a 15metre one for about £3.50. Something like that.  It looked the right thickness, seemed to be twisted pair, and worked well. 

Last week I ordered two more cables from Amazon, supplied by 3rd party.  So far only 1 has arrived, but more worryingly, is the thickness.  It's more like phone cable than Cat5e!  Whilst it has RJ45s on each end, and has CAT5E printed along it, I'm far from convinced it's up to spec. I can detect no twisting under the insulation, and reading the reviews, it seems that a number of suppliers are now selling this inferior stuff.  The way Amazon lumps many suppliers under the same product means it's impossible to pick a particular supplier who might have had a 5* review for that generic cable.

Looking at Maplin, their prices are outrageous - over £20 for a 15metre cable.

So, can anyone recommend a reasonable priced supplier who will sell a Cat5e patch cable that is up to Cat5e standards?  Where you know what you're getting?

Ian
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asbokid

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Re: Where to get reasonable price reasonable quality Cat5e patch cables?
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2012, 06:28:22 PM »

Back in October, there was a strange advisory about dodgy copper-clad ethernet cables.  Not sure what to make of it. Industry scaremongering but some truth to it? Message: buy from reputable suppliers (FIA members) only?

There is some real rubbish on ebay, dangerous too. Much of it from Far Eastern vendors.  I bought an electric dog blanket as an Xmas prezzie. It arrived in April  ::). When I went to plug it in, the wires fell out of the inline switch! 

cheers, a

http://www.fia-online.co.uk/pdf/Whites/wp-IAN002-01.pdf
« Last Edit: June 23, 2012, 06:36:42 PM by asbokid »
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kitz

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Re: Where to get reasonable price reasonable quality Cat5e patch cables?
« Reply #3 on: June 23, 2012, 10:38:39 PM »

Blackbox.co.uk has a good reputation in the industry, they are good if you want just about anything to do with networking/cabling..  Although they are a bit cheaper than maplins, by the time you add in P+P it can still work out relatively expensive if you are only purchasing small items :(

Ive bought cabling/networking stuff from aria a few times before, iirc their prices were pretty reasonable...  but its been more chuck cables in when ordering something else so dont know how economical it will be if you add on P+P

Screwfix carry a small range of cables, but not much choice.

---
edited to add.
Just remembered Ive also used ebuyer for network cables a few times which have been perfectly fine.



« Last Edit: June 23, 2012, 10:41:57 PM by kitz »
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sheddyian

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Re: Where to get reasonable price reasonable quality Cat5e patch cables?
« Reply #4 on: June 24, 2012, 11:24:22 AM »

Thanks for the links!  I was hoping to stay in the bargain basement end of prices, but within reason - needs to be to Cat5e spec at least :) 

I was looking at some cheap cables I've bought in the last year, comparing to the most recent one.  I attach pictures for your enjoyment  ;D

pic1 :

This is a 1 metre cable I got from a bargain bin in Tesco for less than 50p (may have been 39p)! It's branded Tesco on the cable, feels quite stiff, you can feel the twists in the conductors through the outer insulation and, I've only just noticed, it's marked FTP as well - so it's foil screened twisted pair.  Seems pretty good quality.  Thickness approx 5.9mm

pic2 : This is a 5 metre cable I got from Amazon last year, for around the £2 mark I think.  It's not as thick as the Tesco cable (5.1mm approx), and is more flexible.  The marking indicates that it's stranded, and 24AWG.  But you can feel twists in the conductors through the outer, and apart from one of the little lugs snapping off (which makes it loose in the socket) it's not given me any problems.

pic3 : This is the cable I've just bought, and am very reluctant to use.  I don't think it's up to Cat5 spec.  It's very thin, 3.9 mm approx, and you can feel the conductors quite loose inside the outer insulation.  I cannot feel any twisting in these conductors, you can roll them about through the outer.  It is incredibly flexible, which I don't regard as a good thing - I think it further illustrates the thinness and lack of twisting.  I had intended to run this cable through the attic to another room, but if it's not up to spec, I imagine it'll be liable to interference and it'll fail or be unreliable.

Regarding Asbokid's link to the concerns over cheap cables that aren't 100% copper, well, I have no idea what these have inside.  We might have a guess though :)

I have seen some advertised (may have been Amazon) that claim to be 100% copper, so perhaps that's my route to go - get one that's actually advertised as being better quality.

Ian
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roseway

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Re: Where to get reasonable price reasonable quality Cat5e patch cables?
« Reply #5 on: June 24, 2012, 11:44:53 AM »

I must say I share your suspicions about cable 3. From your description it sounds more like burglar alarm cable than networking or telephone cable.
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  Eric

sheddyian

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Re: Where to get reasonable price reasonable quality Cat5e patch cables?
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2012, 08:10:49 PM »


Just as a quick follow up, this was the cable I went for in the end.  It's build seems far superior to my other cables, and has so far worked with no problems at all (though currently only running at 100 meg, not at gigabit speed as the remote hub isn't gigabit).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0021UZNCW

Ian
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geep

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Re: Where to get reasonable price reasonable quality Cat5e patch cables?
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2012, 04:48:58 PM »

Screwfix - http://tinyurl.com/codpfx5
Toolstation - http://tinyurl.com/bsl9e47
Cheers,
Peter
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sheddyian

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Re: Where to get reasonable price reasonable quality Cat5e patch cables?
« Reply #8 on: June 13, 2013, 11:41:04 PM »

I thought I'd follow up my own posting, almost a year later, to add a little postscript.

The other day I had the misfortune to need to use that unconvincing thin "CAT5e" cable.  Up until then I'd opened the packet, looked at it, taken the above photo of it and then thrown it in a box of spare parts, unused.

As an indicator of it's quality and/or build, a gigabit ethernet adaptor cabled to a gigabit switch will only run at 100Mbit using this cable. 

When I used a better quality cable the equipment ran at gigabit speed as expected.

Ian
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