Network cables sleeve markings - new build

bledd said:
Anyone installing using CCA needs to have a word with themselves.

You should ask for cat5e solid core as your minimum spec.
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This.

And to anyone who says otherwise you’re completely wrong.

I’d expect this to be LSZH too, complying with CPR but I guarantee this is going to be PVC (grey PVC sheathing).

The resistance unbalance in CCA is actually dangerous and would be considered as a fire hazard should PoE be utilised which is rising with the IoT market.
 
It's all academic anyway - you aren't going to get the house builder to replace it, the very most they will do is refund you for the work after a drawn out battle.
 
Caged said:
It's all academic anyway - you aren't going to get the house builder to replace it, the very most they will do is refund you for the work after a drawn out battle.
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Now that you say this, I got a feeling its going to end that way :(

Thanks everyone, I have learnt something from this, hopefully it will help others in the future when deciding on what cables to install by a home builder (be specific on the cable type)
 
I'm 99% sure it will be Cat5e but it's just going to be the cheapest that the electricians doing the install could get their hands on. The only way around that is to supply your own cable - but at that point I wouldn't be surprised if people just refused to take the job on.
 
darkcloudi said:
@zipp0r - I understand its CCA. Thanks :) Trying to figure out what cable spec it is. Cat 5, Cat 5e, Cat 6 (I doubt as doesn't look thick enough), etc
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You will not see any CatX marking on the sheath as Copper Coated Aluminium cable is not part of the standard that network cable is ratified to (ANSI/TIA/568 or ISO 11801) which requires a solid copper wire (or solid copper strands)

That's not to say it won't work to the same standard and give gigabit speeds, but it cannot be called Cat5 or Cat5e (or 6/7 etc) because it's not nor will ever be.

If you've requested Cat5 or Cat5e cable (as opposed to just requesting computer or network cable), they have not supplied you with a cable that matches your specification no matter what the electrician or builders state.

Having been on installs with it, I hope it works ok and I wouldn't chuck anything to heavy down in regard to PoE, but deffo chase them for re wire or get them to reimburse - chances are if they are using CCA and passing it off as Cat5e.. they are not in the comms industry so chances are the installation practice and terminations could be poor.

*Edit*

Nothing on the sleeve information you gave is of use to understand what it will run at or capable of. If unable to get it replaced will just have to suck and see what you get.

PDF that might be of use too

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&s...FjAJegQIBBAB&usg=AOvVaw1Pz2axMjY6ZWp_dO-3hmAO
 
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I would be more concerned with the termination and whether there were any joints, i remember in one of the buildings i look after 20 years back when we took it over we found several jointed cat v cables meters from the primary comms room...
Nice, they also ran bogoo 5 overlength as well, ok it works and passes basic testes but... ya know..

Anyway this is prob ok, prob 5e and i doubt you stand any chance of getting it changed if you waned.
 
bremen1874 said:
Chances are it could handle Gigabit.

I've worked in buildings that were entirely wired in Cat5 and they handled Gigabit at full speed just fine.
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Took the 20m CAT 5 cable out of the bin and used it to do a speedtest…

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It can handle speeds over 100mbit/s
 
Thought I give an update the cabling has now been replaced with Cat 5e (Excel is the manufacturer of the cable) and its solid copper, all the relevant standards appear to be written on the cable.

They still need to replace two lines that lead into the house, the builder has notified the electrician to replace these. So good result overall.

Nagging helped :)

Can't test these until I move in, any good tips on how I could go about testing between two lines / points. End to End testing.
 
Can't test these until I move in, any good tips on how I could go about testing between two lines / points. End to End testing.
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A Gigabit capable PC at both ends of each cable. Check it syncs at Gigabit and test the throughput using something like LAN Speed Test.

You can test the connectivity using a basic network tester (~£10).

Ideally you use a real network tester capable of certifying the connections, but those are expensive.
 
FYI the “170m” on that cable is just the length of cable left on the drum, when it was cut at that point.

Bulk cables come in boxes of 305m so if you cut 5m off, you’d notice the print on the side “300m”. Handy to know if you need to run a cable 40m and you’ve only got 38m in an unmarked box.
 
Deaco said:
Having been on installs with it, I hope it works ok and I wouldn't chuck anything to heavy down in regard to PoE, but deffo chase them for re wire or get them to reimburse - chances are if they are using CCA and passing it off as Cat5e.. they are not in the comms industry so chances are the installation practice and terminations could be poor.
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I would hope that the majority of electricians those days would be able to terminate data cabling correctly....although there was one site where an electrical labourer just stripped the cable back, untwisted the cores and connected it as though it was just another wiring accessory leaving a load of untwisted conductors pushed into the back of the box, the cab and testing was done by a sub-contract data installer, who got very poor results and probably uttered some chocie four letter words after opening up a point, and realising every one was the same. Got corrected but the sparkies mate had gone onto other jobs by that time, and seemingly had not been told what had happened, I happened to intercept him on another job putting data points on in the same way, explained the errors of his ways, it was only later I found out about teh first site!
 
can you not just swap it out? Just attach new cable to the end of the existing and run it through? Just get some stuff from cablemonkey.
New builds are made out of paper anyhow so your not going to have too many issues.

How have they run it? anything going up to the attic?
 
Ask the builder to send you the Fluke results from the installer. If the structured cabling was installed by a proper data contractor (unlikely), then 9 times out of 10 they will Fluke test each cable. If they did it, they will be able to send you a .pdf report with a full breakdown of each pass, pass* or fail.

Let's be honest, the cabling will be chucked in by an electrician and probably tested with a generic £5 Amazon jobby purely for wire map. It won't test for resistance, insertion loss, return loss, cross talk etc.

Worth asking the question.

Excel Cat 5e LSZH is pretty much the industry standard (not the best but not the worst). As long as the sheath is purple, not black - as that would indicate external grade cabling, which I believe can only run internally by about 5m?

Over short runs in the home, Cat 6 and Cat 7 is pointless, stick with Cat 5e.
 
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bledd said:
It will work fine, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Unfortunately not. The supplier in question sells utter crap on eBay/Amazon in the form of ‘kits’. Having actually tried to use CCA from the same supplier on what i’d consider a short run (family job where they thought they’d help by buying the stuff for me to use), it’s awful, awful stuff. Anything over 15m for Balun’s was garbage, PoE is a no-no, and it’s only redeeming feature is that unlike solid core, kittens seem to dislike eating it. I’d insist the supplier fitted solid core 5e, anything else is a waste of time/money.
 
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