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Question Why is Cat5e so screwy?

Lost_in_the_HTTP

Lost_in_the_HTTP

Lifer
Need a couple of hunks of Cat5, so checking out the evilBay. Searching 24AWG solid. Some sellers, 1,000' box, over $150, choice of colors. Some add shipping, some don't. Some sellers less, some are selling 10' pieces, probably left overs from a box. One goof lists a buck a foot, you choose the length, they cut. Then I find a guy selling 300' pieces (why 300' and not 250' or 500'?) for about 7 cents/foot, no extra for shipping. Same seller offers 600' plus crimp tool and connectors for what works out to be about 5 cents/foot, no extra for shipping.

I probably need about 50', but why would I pay a buck a foot plus shipping when I can get 500' or more plus tools and connectors for less?

Local places like big box stores get stupid high prices.

For my low end residential needs, high quality hospital grade cable is not necessary.
 
If you don't care about quality at all, and it sounds like you don't - just buy the cheapest 1000' spool of CCA (copper-clad aluminum) from China. That is all.

Then you can get back to us five years later with all of your network cable troubles.

Just saying, maybe saving a few scant bucks on the physical layer may not be the best choice.
 
VirtualLarry said:
If you don't care about quality at all, and it sounds like you don't - just buy the cheapest 1000' spool of CCA (copper-clad aluminum) from China. That is all.

Then you can get back to us five years later with all of your network cable troubles.

Just saying, maybe saving a few scant bucks on the physical layer may not be the best choice.
Click to expand...
Seems like CCA might be okay for residential, particularly for short easy runs (no acute angles that might crimp). If it fails, it should be easy enough run new cable - so long as one is fine with that.

As for me and my house, no thanks! I'm far too lazy for that. One and done.
 
It's because everything you've done in your life is now coming back to haunt you, karma baby. 😉

It only gets worse the more you pay attention to the madness. Commodity pricing and tiered quantity vs price, went out the window years ago. Now it's just fubar, where if you want a good price, you may spend as much time as it's worth to find it, which is ludicrous on something as commodity as WIRE.

Don't get me started on CCA, just no. Life is too short to put up with that if you're not wiring a high current infrastructure.
 
Couple of years back I got some patch cords, 150' as I recall, ends premade. I wanted special color coding, some red, some purple.

Specs all showed normal in the listing. Felt funny to the touch though; limp I guess best describes it. Found I needed to cut one of the ends off and go to a keystone jack. It wouldn't make contact when punched in. Conductor was too thin, probably 28G or less instead of the stated 24G. Had to double it and tin it as I recall. But it carries the signal just fine. Used one at the full length with POE for a remote camera and haven't had any problems.
 
Lost_in_the_HTTP said:
Couple of years back I got some patch cords, 150' as I recall, ends premade. I wanted special color coding, some red, some purple.

Specs all showed normal in the listing. Felt funny to the touch though; limp I guess best describes it. Found I needed to cut one of the ends off and go to a keystone jack. It wouldn't make contact when punched in. Conductor was too thin, probably 28G or less instead of the stated 24G. Had to double it and tin it as I recall. But it carries the signal just fine. Used one at the full length with POE for a remote camera and haven't had any problems.
Click to expand...
Patch cords are made from stranded wire. Cables that go to keystones, use solid-core wire. Why are you always cutting corners? It's amazing that your network even works at all.
 
So if I read that right, the hack job was to add some extra metal into the keystone terminations because the stranded cable couldn't fill it?

Oh boy
 
Somewhere I saw wall plates with an RJ45 on both sides if you were desperate to use multistrand patch cable, but still more of a pain to pull cables with the connector already on them.
 
mindless1 said:
Somewhere I saw wall plates with an RJ45 on both sides if you were desperate to use multistrand patch cable, but still more of a pain to pull cables with the connector already on them.
Click to expand...

I've used these, still use one for my main rig. I pulled the stranded thru, crimped the head, and voila. Patch cord from wall plate to pc
 
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