Are many of you installing CAT6A cable. Pro's Con's any thoughts would be helpful. What is the latest scoop on testing etc. I have a company that is putting specs out on this for a new building.

Thanks for your thoughts and help.

Mike

I don't know if there is a good solution right now for testing. Certifying the cable before any active equipment is connected is fine. The problem is the alien crosstalk that may creep in once data is flowing. I think the proposed solution is to test a random sampling of runs while equipment is connected and live. I see a lot of potential for problems here. Normally you would be able to certify your cabling, hand off the report to the client and call it a day. Now you aren't finished until you've coordinated a live test with the IT staff. What will satisfy them that there will not be any alien crosstalk issues? How many runs do you test? What represents a realistic live test? You could end up dealing with someone who isn't satisfied until they find or cause a problem.

I personally wouldn't accept a job requiring Cat6a unless it was shielded. When the cable is certified, you're done. No alien crosstalk, no random testing, no finger pointing.

I'm with Clinton on this one. It has not proved possible to effectively test for "Alien XTalk".

I would be very leery of agreeing to certify Cat 6A.


Sam

I hope they have deep pockets. Cat 6a is almost 9 times the price of Cat 5e per 1000. Now if you need 6a in Plenum, well you'll need a really good line of credit. I have no idea what 6a STP would cost.

Can anybody say FIBER?

-Hal

The solution to alien crosstalk is supposed to be shielded 6A. But then your termination time increases substantially which makes it even more expensive.

I installed shielded CAT 6 (Not 6A) a few years back. It was an ITT product and a PITA. Not horrible, but it certainly added time to the installation. Probably 25%, maybe even more.

Sam

Thanks Guys you all have pretty much confirmed my own thoughts.

Mike

Hi, we have been doing a lot of CAT6 upgrades for businesses in our market. IT managers are upgrading to Gigabit switches and we have seen a lot of cabling NOT getting good through put on CAT5. Now to be honest, a lot of it stems from poor cabling practices in the first place. We are pretty careful to keep our cables away from any electrical devices and to get a good tight punch on the jacks.

xoxoxo

Penny