sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Cabling Telephones Systems Wiring Cat5 "350 mhz" worth the extra cost?

So I was reading the Wikipedia page on Cat5e https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat5e and there's an interesting blurb on "350 mhz the debacle" and it talks about how 350mhz is a ripoff. Is that page correct? It is weird how different manufactures have different results for 350mhz. What exactly are you paying extra for? Is the page right about manufactures just putting a little extra margin in their pocket?

Remember Wiki is written by people like you and me. It is edited by others who may or may not know the issues involved.

If you were one of the first people to install Cat 5e when it came out, I bet there would be others stating that you are just ripping people off and that there isn't any application for it.

If bandwidth is not a valid question then why is there SM and MM Fiber? There is also the application of Fiber to the Desktop.

Others will have a better answer than I...

Do you believe EVERYTHING you read??? If so, I have this cool bridge to sell you. Enough said.

Scott

The extra cost is negligible, for the most part. Ever since it came out, we have used Cat 5E (350 mhz). At one time there was 100 mgz (I think) and 350mhz. They called them "little E" and "Big E". I really haven't even thought about it for years. Just words. Just marketing. IMHO.

If you've got a knot in either one---it's not going to be a good cable run. 'nuff said!!.

I understand Wiki is posted by people like you and me and not to believe everything but on that page there are spec sheets from the manufacture of Berktek, Essex and General cable and all three of those had different test results for 350mhz.

If I'm not getting the same reliable 350 result every time I uses a different brand why should I pay extra for it.

Also Cat6 specs out 250MHZ! Whats going on here!

Quick Answer: Methology.

Anything done under ideal laboratory conditions will always out perform a standard installation in the field.

BASICALLY:

If you take out the installation variables out of the equations then what you get is:

1=1

And remember, the physical structure of each brand you mention is different, so of course you should expect different results.

It's marketing snake oil intended to make the gullible buy their product. And who do you think the gullible would be? If you answered CGs and IT "professionals" you would be correct.

Then again sparkie thinks it makes the doorbells he wires with it work better. Ding Dong!

-Hal

Now that's funny! :rofl:

I've never paid more for Cat5e that is swept/tested to 350MHZ, and never paid it any mind since no applications will exceed the 100MHz. Cat6 has better parameters for things such as return loss, cross talk, insertion loss, etc, that make it better than cat5e if you need it. Cat6 is, for lack of a better term at the moment, guaranteed to 250MHz, but I've seen that swept to 550Mhz (which theorhetically exceeds Cat6a).

Using quality cable, properly installed and terminated makes more of a difference than using Catx swept to some unrealistic number does.

Jack

I buy the Cat5E (350Mhz) because that's what my local supplyhouse carries. I pay $xx a box and charge xx¢ a foot on my T&M jobs. Yes it's "off-shore" cable, but the performance is very acceptable. I like the strength of the colors too as I am slightly red/green colorblind. I've never had trouble distinguishing the greens from the browns with this no-name brand cable.