PCA Forums

i saw some cable at the compusa the other day in a box, 250ft. it was belkin brand in a plain white box with a sticker on it reading "data grade" cable.

it also had on the sticker, for installation use only, not for patch cables. well, i was going to buy some cable in bulk to make patch cables and crossovers. what is the difference between cable that is not for patch cables and cable that is marked for patch cable?

I've never seen cable specifically labelled for installation only, not for patch cables. However some cable is really not designed to be used for patch cable because it's not soft and flexible enough. Installation cable is usually solid wire which is stiffer. Patch cable is stranded wire which is much more flexible.

I have this stuff and would not suggest it for cables that are going to be rolled up often for the same reason listed above. If your going to make patch cables and leave them its not a problem.

yea... like has been said allready.

thanks, now that i think about it, the cable i looked at was pretty stiff and not rolled up too tightly.

i am going to go for the more flexible type. there are a few gigabit connections i need to make(pc to pc direct via crossover cable), i read somewhere that cat6 is best for gigabit, but more expensive. would i have issues with gigabit connections if i used cat 5e?

Cat 6 is required for true gigabit operation although a good quality 5e cable can perform nearly as well.