Is something like 50ft Cat 5 cable usually just one cable or is it usually just the wire with no ends so you ca make custom size cable?
Cat 5 cable question
- Thread starter biggiesmallz
- Start date
Well, it'll look better anyway if machine-made, but the performance difference should be negligible if you crimp it properly.
Even if you get one with the ends already on it, you can just cut the wire to whatever length you want and crimp a new end on. It's usually cheaper per foot to buy a large spool rather than premade cables. You can get a 500 foot spool for under 50 dollars some places, while a 25 foot premade can cost 40 dollars alone (if you buy from a markup king like CompUSA). A 25 foot cable can be only a few bucks at online stores. Newegg has 100 foot Cat6 cables for only 21 dollars.
Even if you get one with the ends already on it, you can just cut the wire to whatever length you want and crimp a new end on. It's usually cheaper per foot to buy a large spool rather than premade cables. You can get a 500 foot spool for under 50 dollars some places, while a 25 foot premade can cost 40 dollars alone (if you buy from a markup king like CompUSA). A 25 foot cable can be only a few bucks at online stores. Newegg has 100 foot Cat6 cables for only 21 dollars.
Those prices are still pretty expensive. HomeDepot has a 100' CAT5e cable for $14, and 1000' can be found for around $50. CAT6 is where it starts to get more expensive. I think our 1000' reel of CAT6 that we bought to wire our new house was around $130.
Also, if you crimp your wires correctly, it will look and perform the same as a pre-made cable.
Also, if you crimp your wires correctly, it will look and perform the same as a pre-made cable.
- Oct 25, 1999
- 29,552
- 429
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To be more specific:
If you crimp your own using the right connectors (there are many types), with decent tools (not cheap), using the right specification, and the right cable (solid conductor, which is what most folks here are referencing, is *-NOT-* good for patch cables i.e., "outside of the walls") yo'll stand a decent chance of getting a cable that performs as well as a purchased, pre-fabricated cable.
Buy a pre-made cable. Honest, you'll be glad you did.
JM.02
Scott
If you crimp your own using the right connectors (there are many types), with decent tools (not cheap), using the right specification, and the right cable (solid conductor, which is what most folks here are referencing, is *-NOT-* good for patch cables i.e., "outside of the walls") yo'll stand a decent chance of getting a cable that performs as well as a purchased, pre-fabricated cable.
Buy a pre-made cable. Honest, you'll be glad you did.
JM.02
Scott
- Oct 25, 1999
- 29,552
- 429
- 126
Wiring a House, by a professional person can be very expensive. Learning to wire your own place can be an interesting experience and save a lot of money. Using keystone jacks to terminate wall installation is easy, and the results are good.
Making your own patch cables does not save much, and in most cases inexperienced crimpers end up with cramps. First in their hands, and than in the stomach, when the Network does not work or under performs.
Example: You can make Glue from scratch! Wonder how many people do?
Making your own patch cables does not save much, and in most cases inexperienced crimpers end up with cramps. First in their hands, and than in the stomach, when the Network does not work or under performs.
Example: You can make Glue from scratch! Wonder how many people do?
Evadman
Administrator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
- Feb 18, 2001
- 30,990
- 5
- 81
I have never had a problem crimping my own cables. I bought a 1000' cat5e spool from home depot for $59, a crimper for $60, 100 ends for $15 and a tester for $80. This was about 2 years ago.
For that $200 investment, I had all the cables I could ever need. I ended up using up that 1000' spool in about 6 months making cables for people. 1/2 of another spool was used up in wiring someone's house. I have made my $200 back 10 fold.
It was very easy, and I am still using the cables I crimped oh so long ago. the cables are all solid core, which is not recomended for the patch cables I am using them for, but I have yet to have a problem.
For that $200 investment, I had all the cables I could ever need. I ended up using up that 1000' spool in about 6 months making cables for people. 1/2 of another spool was used up in wiring someone's house. I have made my $200 back 10 fold.
It was very easy, and I am still using the cables I crimped oh so long ago. the cables are all solid core, which is not recomended for the patch cables I am using them for, but I have yet to have a problem.
Solid core is meant for the long stretches through ceilings and walls, down to a jack at something like a cubicle or in an office. Then you use a "patch cable" which is stranded wire, to connect the PC to the jack. Solid core helps with the signal integrity so you can reach the 100 meter limits of Ethernet without loss of performance; if you used stranded wire for that kind of length, it may not work so well.
Stranded is only good for short runs - it has a much higher attenuation (loss) than solid core.
That performance issue was taken into consideration for the specification (100 meters overall, 90 meters of solid core "in the walls", and 5 meters of stranded patch cable at either end).
Trying to use stranded for more than ~100 feet or so may degrade the signal enough to affect performance.
Stranded also has a lower velocity factor (it doesn't move the lil' electrons down the line as fast as solid). Nothing that you'd notice, but it's there.
If you forsee yourself with a need to be able to create cables, then by all means, buy the stuff and give it your best shot. For "Real" networking guys, the skill of making a good cable is right up there with the cavemen learning to make and use fire.
For a home user that only wants a cable or two (and has never done it before), it's not worth the headaches. It's not like the damn cables cost an arm-and-a-leg. Making your own cables to save a couple dollars is (IMHO) just plain stupid.
I've made jillions of cables, I've been making cables for over 15 years, I have my own certification scanner BUT I'd rather eat warm worms off of a shovel (or worse: LIVER!!) than try to terminate a stranded cable. It's a pain. It sucks. I BUY patch cables (but I still sweep 'em to make sure they're OK). If a patch cable goes bad, I toss it and BUY another one.
If you're gonna make cables, buy decent equipment, read and follow the specs; learn to do it right. There are a lot of things you can do wrong and it will affect the performance. Just getting data through doesn't mean it's working as well as it can.
JM.02
Scott
That performance issue was taken into consideration for the specification (100 meters overall, 90 meters of solid core "in the walls", and 5 meters of stranded patch cable at either end).
Trying to use stranded for more than ~100 feet or so may degrade the signal enough to affect performance.
Stranded also has a lower velocity factor (it doesn't move the lil' electrons down the line as fast as solid). Nothing that you'd notice, but it's there.
If you forsee yourself with a need to be able to create cables, then by all means, buy the stuff and give it your best shot. For "Real" networking guys, the skill of making a good cable is right up there with the cavemen learning to make and use fire.
For a home user that only wants a cable or two (and has never done it before), it's not worth the headaches. It's not like the damn cables cost an arm-and-a-leg. Making your own cables to save a couple dollars is (IMHO) just plain stupid.
I've made jillions of cables, I've been making cables for over 15 years, I have my own certification scanner BUT I'd rather eat warm worms off of a shovel (or worse: LIVER!!) than try to terminate a stranded cable. It's a pain. It sucks. I BUY patch cables (but I still sweep 'em to make sure they're OK). If a patch cable goes bad, I toss it and BUY another one.
If you're gonna make cables, buy decent equipment, read and follow the specs; learn to do it right. There are a lot of things you can do wrong and it will affect the performance. Just getting data through doesn't mean it's working as well as it can.
JM.02
Scott
For the average person who knows nothing about them, buying retail patch cables CAN cost an arm and a leg, depending on where they go.
here's an interesting story.
i was in training all last week. The network guy there made all of his own patch cables, scoffing loudly at how good he was at it and how stupid it is to buy patch cables.
The classroom network would go up and down a few times a day. We traced it to about 6 of the patch cables and replaced them. No problems afterwords.
It is still a very bad idea to make patch cables.
i was in training all last week. The network guy there made all of his own patch cables, scoffing loudly at how good he was at it and how stupid it is to buy patch cables.
The classroom network would go up and down a few times a day. We traced it to about 6 of the patch cables and replaced them. No problems afterwords.
It is still a very bad idea to make patch cables.
I didn't say "Don't Learn."
I said, if you only need a cable or two, buy 'em.
If you are in a networking profession, where it is likely that you'll have to terminate UTP at some point (if only in emergency situations), then learn.
Just learn to do it right; meaning, spend the time to find out what "right" is.
The vast majority of "networking" people I've met think they can make perfect cables ... most are clueless when it comes to what it actually takes to make a "perfect" cable (or even a decent cable). Restated: If you don't know what you don't know, you figure you're doing it right (but you really suck).
Unless you have a mechanism to verify that the cable is functioning properly (like a cable scanner) there's no way to tell. Just getting data through isn't a guarantee that the cable is done properly.
Just do a search for "My network only runs at 10Mbps." With rare exception, you have to argue with the individual that pair order DOES make a difference (not to mention the hordes of the clueless that chime in with "I did it that way and it worked OK for me"), eventually they use a decent cable, and it's "Well, geez, who'd a thought it'd make that much difference?"
For a home network, I don't care if you use twisted coat hangers. For a business network, it's gotta be right.
You can argue all day, but the bottom line is most folks don't know ... and don't WANT to know ... they figure all they gotta do is crimp on the little clear plastic thingys and all is well. They don't care that the little plastic thingys should be rated ("these were cheaper"), they don't care that about pair-order ("colors don't matter to an electron"), they don't care about exposure ( It's ok if the wires hang out the end of the jacket, right? what can that hurt?)... they just want cheap cables.
I'm curious as to the definition of "arm-and-a-leg"....$20.00? If the worst thing that happens when you buy a cable is that you spent a couple bucks too much, I can live with that. Big deal; so some folks don't want to spent a week researching how to save $5.00. Personally, my time is worth more than that. Where's the bragging rights to "Yep, and I saved fifty-seven cents doing it myself !"
I prefer a stable network that's performing as it's designed to perform. To me, that's worth a couple extra dollars to NOT have to spend my time time chasing glitchy (cable-related) bugs.
Again, for the home, if that's what you wanna do, knock yerself out. In a business environment (Spidey, Garion, and Mucman will back me up on this) it's gotta be rock-solid perfect, or you have folks giving you grief (or worse, since the performance is down, so is your bonus).
EVERYTHING on the network depends on on media performance. If it's flakey, so is the network.
(the sound of another .02 hitting the bottom of the can)
FWIW
Scott
I said, if you only need a cable or two, buy 'em.
If you are in a networking profession, where it is likely that you'll have to terminate UTP at some point (if only in emergency situations), then learn.
Just learn to do it right; meaning, spend the time to find out what "right" is.
The vast majority of "networking" people I've met think they can make perfect cables ... most are clueless when it comes to what it actually takes to make a "perfect" cable (or even a decent cable). Restated: If you don't know what you don't know, you figure you're doing it right (but you really suck).
Unless you have a mechanism to verify that the cable is functioning properly (like a cable scanner) there's no way to tell. Just getting data through isn't a guarantee that the cable is done properly.
Just do a search for "My network only runs at 10Mbps." With rare exception, you have to argue with the individual that pair order DOES make a difference (not to mention the hordes of the clueless that chime in with "I did it that way and it worked OK for me"), eventually they use a decent cable, and it's "Well, geez, who'd a thought it'd make that much difference?"
For a home network, I don't care if you use twisted coat hangers. For a business network, it's gotta be right.
You can argue all day, but the bottom line is most folks don't know ... and don't WANT to know ... they figure all they gotta do is crimp on the little clear plastic thingys and all is well. They don't care that the little plastic thingys should be rated ("these were cheaper"), they don't care that about pair-order ("colors don't matter to an electron"), they don't care about exposure ( It's ok if the wires hang out the end of the jacket, right? what can that hurt?)... they just want cheap cables.
I'm curious as to the definition of "arm-and-a-leg"....$20.00? If the worst thing that happens when you buy a cable is that you spent a couple bucks too much, I can live with that. Big deal; so some folks don't want to spent a week researching how to save $5.00. Personally, my time is worth more than that. Where's the bragging rights to "Yep, and I saved fifty-seven cents doing it myself !"
I prefer a stable network that's performing as it's designed to perform. To me, that's worth a couple extra dollars to NOT have to spend my time time chasing glitchy (cable-related) bugs.
Again, for the home, if that's what you wanna do, knock yerself out. In a business environment (Spidey, Garion, and Mucman will back me up on this) it's gotta be rock-solid perfect, or you have folks giving you grief (or worse, since the performance is down, so is your bonus).
EVERYTHING on the network depends on on media performance. If it's flakey, so is the network.
(the sound of another .02 hitting the bottom of the can)
FWIW
Scott
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