Ethernet cable category used on new builds?

Alex34 · 31 Dec 2019 at 14:01

Hello all.

Just wondering how I would be able to accurately define what category Ethernet cable was used on my home when it was built in 2011? It was built by Taylor Wimpey as a show home and I purchased it from them "as seen" in 2016. Asking the builder is a no, no because Taylor Wimpey are so unreliable you cannot believe anything they say.

All I can confirm is that it is a grey coloured cable that I doubt very much is cat6 or higher, I assume it's either cat5 or cat5e. The only bit of cable that is not in the wall that has any writing on it is an incomplete part. What is legible is "24AWG Conductor, PVC Jacket, IEC332.1 08/09/2010 147 meters". So all I can tell from that is it's a 24 gauge cable made in 2010. the inner wires seemed to be twisted tightly and I've read that cat5e is twisted tighter that cat5 but how definitive that comparison is, I have no idea.

Would be very grateful if any of you networking wizards on here could help.

The reason I ask? I'm thinking of upgrading my service from 120mbps to 360mbps and I want to use as many wire connections as I can for my network.

bremen1874 · 31 Dec 2019 at 14:51

That's just about the worst termination I've ever seen.

It looks like Cat5e, which is perfectly adequate. If you look further up the cables it's probably labelled.

Alex34 · 31 Dec 2019 at 15:07

bremen1874 said:
That's just about the worst termination I've ever seen.

It looks like Cat5e, which is perfectly adequate. If you look further up the cables it's probably labelled.

Lol... I know... will be all tidied up when I upgrade everything.

There isn't anymore writing on the bits of cable that are visible, I tried pulling some slack out the wall but no luck there. As my current service is only 120mbps I will have to be very lucky to catch it above 100mbps to be able to test it versus straight from the router... don't think I've ever seen it above 100mbps.

bremen1874 · 31 Dec 2019 at 15:09

The odds of it being Cat5 rather than Cat5e in 2010 is very, very, low. Even if it is, I've had Cat5 cabling running at Gigabit speeds without issue.

Alex34 · 31 Dec 2019 at 15:12

bremen1874 said:
The odds of it being Cat5 rather than Cat5e in 2010 is very, very, low. Even if it is, I've had Cat5 cabling running at Gigabit speeds without issue.

Many thanks for that! Will have to give it a go then.

Caged · 1 Jan 2020 at 15:57

You'll be able to terminate that and get a gigabit over it without any hassle. Looks like it might be CCA rather than pure copper because someone wanted to save a few quid, you won't know until you scrape the conductors to see if they are silver underneath.

bremen1874 · 1 Jan 2020 at 17:21

Caged said:
Looks like it might be CCA

X-ray vision?

Caged · 1 Jan 2020 at 17:54

I assumed the 'ca' left on the jacket is part of 'cca', combined with the fact that it's terminated terribly and was put in by Taylor Wimpey.

Alex34 · 1 Jan 2020 at 19:24

Caged said:
I assumed the 'ca' left on the jacket is part of 'cca', combined with the fact that it's terminated terribly and was put in by Taylor Wimpey.

I wouldn't doubt it. Will be getting started Friday and first on the list is to terminate it properly and check the quality of the wires. While doing research over the last couple of days it seems a lot of the builders are putting in crappy cca cables. If I have to rewire the house to get rid of it, I will.
Question though, can cca be legitimately used by builders? From what I read it seems they are below UK standards?

Caged · 1 Jan 2020 at 19:34

I doubt there are any UK standards that are enforceable, and as long as it tests to Cat5e standards once installed then it passes. It's not good for PoE over long runs but that's not going to be an issue for you. The installation you have there would be very unlikely to pass a but the builder has probably never made any claims as to the standard they were installing to either - just saying "putting some RJ45 sockets in and linking up with Cat5e cable" makes no claims as to the quality of the finished job.

I would never install CCA cable, but I don't think I'd rip it out either.

bremen1874 · 1 Jan 2020 at 19:34

It'll most likely be fine. I wouldn't choose to install it, but I wouldn't automatically rip it out just because.

Too slow...

Alex34 · 1 Jan 2020 at 20:24

I heard it can and most times does affect stability and speed, are you guys saying this isn't necessarily true?

sja360 · 1 Jan 2020 at 21:03

Is there any way you can test it with a couple of gigabit ethernet adapters on pc/laptop/Nas to see actual max throughput.

bremen1874 · 1 Jan 2020 at 21:23

Alex34 said:
I heard it can and most times does affect stability and speed, are you guys saying this isn't necessarily true?

At the distances you'll have in a domestic install it's unlikely to be a problem. Only worry about it if you do have problems.

There's no guarantee that it is CCA anyway.

Alex34 · 1 Jan 2020 at 21:23

@sja360
Well the plan is to check it on Friday when I will have the time.
My internet tariff was 100mbps when we first moved here and it was the highest tariff offered, so there was really no need to check anything until now.

Alex34 · 2 Jan 2020 at 18:27

Had a quick look at the ends of the wire in the keystone and I'm 95% what I see is cca wires. Crazy to think they put together an exclusive deal with a fibre to home company to supply the entire build with what was always going to be gigabit speeds, yet they put in cheap wire for the infrastructure.

Quartz · 2 Jan 2020 at 18:35

CCA should be okay for gigabit at home but if you see 10Gb in your future you'll want to replace it.

Alex34 · 2 Jan 2020 at 20:13

Quartz said:
CCA should be okay for gigabit at home but if you see 10Gb in your future you'll want to replace it.

I just did a quick test for speeds and it seems the cca is handling 120mbps just fine.

Will be tiding up the wiring and terminations tomorrow and running another cable through the loft and into another room. Once all the switches are in place and I'm happy, will speak to ISP for the upgrade.

bremen1874 · 2 Jan 2020 at 20:23

You’re worrying about nothing. It’ll almost certainly handle Gigabit just fine. If it doesn’t it’s more likely to be poor installation rather than the actual cable.

Alex34 · 3 Jan 2020 at 08:09

bremen1874 said:
You’re worrying about nothing. It’ll almost certainly handle Gigabit just fine. If it doesn’t it’s more likely to be poor installation rather than the actual cable.

Now realising this. It's always best to be sure though.

Would the cabling be okay for PoE as well? Would be using it for three cctv cameras.