What do most do out there in regards to ethernet cabling? Buy pre-made cable lengths for use in panels? Buy a spool and crimp your own? If you are going that route are you using shielded cabling and making cables with shielded ends on them?
Ethernet cables. Shielded vs Unshielded? Make or buy made?
- Thread starter JZerb
- Start date
kamenges
Member
Within the past couple of years I have done a complete 180 on this. I went from shop-made unshielded to purchased shielded. You can get purchased shielded cables today for less than you can make them yourself if you are really honest with yourself about all the costs UNLESS you make about 100 of them a month. The only downfall is you can't make then to the exact length you need.
Keith
Keith
I always recommend shielded cabling for anything on a factory floor.
There are probably cases where making your own makes sense (maybe long runs?) but I feel like pre-molded is just simpler most of the time, and simpler usually ends up saving money in the long run.
Either way, it's probably worth it to have someone (junior guy, intern, whatever) sit down and test the cables one by one before they get used. Failure rate is low, but there will be at least ONE bad cable on any decent size job, and it's worth it to know which one it is BEFORE it gets installed in an inconvenient to replace location.
There are probably cases where making your own makes sense (maybe long runs?) but I feel like pre-molded is just simpler most of the time, and simpler usually ends up saving money in the long run.
Either way, it's probably worth it to have someone (junior guy, intern, whatever) sit down and test the cables one by one before they get used. Failure rate is low, but there will be at least ONE bad cable on any decent size job, and it's worth it to know which one it is BEFORE it gets installed in an inconvenient to replace location.
Liam Moran
Lifetime Supporting Member
I always buy factory made up shielded in different lengths and colours. They are not expensive and are just plug and play.
Thanks for the answer. Someone whom has gone from making to just purchasing was exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Would you be so kind as to recommend a reputable source for said cables?
+1. We always make ours but it is time consuming and I'd like to get away from that.
kallileo
Lifetime Supporting Member
Isn't it bad practice to have a shielded signal cable connected connected to ground on both ends?
How do you ground only one end of the shielded Ethernet cable?
Unless the device has some ground jumpers or something similar on each Ethernet port.
How do you ground only one end of the shielded Ethernet cable?
Unless the device has some ground jumpers or something similar on each Ethernet port.
Although I rarely install long runs (our IT Dept. use a contractor) for short runs like in a panel I buy pre-made ones usually shielded, in saying that although the factory wide LAN is fibre to the switches, from there to offices factory floor PC's & equipment is unshielded cat 5 with runs over 300 mtrs and 1ghz. these often run on existing cable racks that carry the 415 feeders from the switch rooms to sub panels, this has never caused any problems and has been this way for 20 years although originally probably only 10/100 MHz at the start.
If I do a long run I usually pinch what IT have and make it up, and it is rarely shielded and no caused any problems so far.
If I do a long run I usually pinch what IT have and make it up, and it is rarely shielded and no caused any problems so far.
geniusintraining
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
My new shop I am using Cat7 and Cat8 Shielded, I have not had any issues, even though I have everything to make the cables, including the bulk cable rolls, I still buy them, I like having the molded ends and my time is worth more than the cable cost.
Would you mind disclosing your source for pre-made cables? We have used ShowMeCables before due to their low price, but I'm looking to not buy the absolute least expensive if by spending a bit more the quality is there.
geniusintraining
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
Both my bulk rolls and made cables come direct from a manufacture in China
I sell a couple of the cat7's on my site https://www.plccable.com/search.php?search_query=cat7§ion=product
They are not the cheapest on the market but I have found their quality to be very good
I sell a couple of the cat7's on my site https://www.plccable.com/search.php?search_query=cat7§ion=product
They are not the cheapest on the market but I have found their quality to be very good
geniusintraining
Lifetime Supporting Member + Moderator
I dont think AD has Cat7 or 8
I have wondered the same question, having been taught that grounding both ends of a shield is worse than leaving both floating.
Also, I learned the hard way that some "industrial," shielded cable has thicker insulation on the individual conductors, and various RJ-45 connectors have a defined range of sizes they will accept. Trying to jam a large conductor into a too small connector slot will lead to poor connections, if you can get them all in.
So with shielded cable, it is not just getting the metal connector, but one that accepts the gauge/insulation size of the wires.
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