cheapest patch cables

[Pepsi90919]

i'm looking for a supplier that has a good price on patch cables, 2-3 ft.

monoprice has 50 for $0.93 a piece, can anyone do any better?

 

[cmetz]

pcmicrostore runs great sales about 1-2 times a month. Always compare the price for cables including shipping.

 

[openwheelformula1]

I second monoprice. Great quality cables at great price. The fact that it's 3 blocks away from me is even better. lol

 

[acaeti]

deepsurplus.com and pchcables.com generally have great pricing depending on bulk. The latter has free shipping on orders > 125, which sometimes lets it beat out the former.

 

[cmetz]

deepsurplus also has some good deals on other networking things, occasionally patch panels, mounting brackets, etc.

 

[AgentJean]

Buy a 100 foot cable then roll your own. Much cheaper.

 

[jlazzaro]

Originally posted by: AgentJean
Buy a 100 foot cable then roll your own. Much cheaper.

cheaper =! better

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: jlazzaro

Originally posted by: AgentJean
Buy a 100 foot cable then roll your own. Much cheaper.

cheaper =! better

OP doesn't care what's better apparently, he asked for the cheapest.

 

[cmetz]

I hear that it's cheaper if you buy bulk copper and resin and manufacture your own wire.

The OP asked for cables.

 

[Mogadon]

pffft, copper, i heard that roll of aluminium foil you keep in the kitchen is perfect once wrapped in cling film with a jack stuck on each end.

 

[hanoverphist]

making your own isnt very cost effective. your time is worth more, and for most people making cables isnt an automatic thing like it is in a factory. i make all my own cables, but thats mainly due to the fact that all our installs arent designed around the standard length of the premade cables. if i need a 14 foot cable, ill make one to fit. no roll, no slack. it isnt cost effective, but a good cable thats custom fit is always better than the premade in my opinion.

 

[spidey07]

You can get patch cables of any length. It's common to stock a bunch of them in each length - 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 etc.

There is just never a good reason to make a patch cable. Ever. It will cause problems and technically it is out of specification (solid vs. stranded).

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: spidey07
You can get patch cables of any length. It's common to stock a bunch of them in each length - 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 etc.

There is just never a good reason to make a patch cable. Ever. It will cause problems and technically it is out of specification (solid vs. stranded).

huh? ive never even seen stranded cat6 cable. i surely dont use it, and when you can certify cables they are "industry standard". there are plenty of reasons to make a cable, and plenty of reasons to buy premade. i dont want to keep stock on hand for a 26.5ft cable if im only going to use it on one application. same goes for a 1.5ft cable. or a 5.75ft cable. you get my drift.

i should also point out that while i do custom network designs and installs, it is purely for industrial water/ wastewater sites and doesnt really follow a lot of the conventions you would normally follow in an office building. and the hardware (PLCs) hooked up are in custom made RTU cabinets, and rarely the same distance from the network hardware. im not special, there are others with the same situations. i just prefer to not half ass it, guess and leave a loop of cable hanging out of the wireway.

 

[cmetz]

hanoverphist, it's easy to take up slack if you follow the bend radius spec for cat5 and cat6. If you are making cables so tight that you're worried about half feet, I would bet moderate amounts of money that you are not following the bend radius spec correctly.

I'm sure you've seen a stranded cable. Basically all patch cables you'd buy or would be included with equipment are stranded. They're more flexible and therefore more convenient. Also don't degrade when moved around and bent repeatedly. Though not quite as good for signal quality as solid.