This is going to be a little long winded...

This past week, I neatened up the telephone wiring here @ the house. I have been wanting to do this for a while now and decided to stop procrastinating.

Since my cabling work at my church is done, I grabbed a used pull box of Systimax CAT3 gray plenum cable and got to work. I ran out of cable and went back the following day to grab another box. I purposely grabbed the newest box which was labeled "Commscope" as opposed to "Systimax" and headed home.

When I pulled the end of the cable out of the box, I could not help but notice that the outer jacket had a "ribbed" feel to it as opposed to the "smooth" feel of the older cable.

I grabbed my Cyclops and removed about 3" of jacketing.
Talk about a letdown, the wire insulation was translucent, making it difficult to differentiate between the W/O and W/BR pairs. Even worse, the conductors within each pair were twisted ala CAT5e. The conductors in the older cable have almost no twisting...and...have insulation that makes color identification very simple.

I can't help but roll my eyes when I look at the Commscope bulletin from 2010 that advises that the Systimax name was being replaced with the Commscope name on all CAT3 hardware. Commscope stated that product codes and whatnot was going to remain the same. The only changes were the name/logo on the box and the outer jacket.

I guess this is supposed to be progress.

I know exactly what you are dealing with here. This is NOT progress, this is how to make it cheaper and charge more money for the same thing.

I only wish, just one time, the person or people responsible for making the insulation "translucent" (translation: IMPOSSIBLE to see the color code) be placed in a dimly lit wiring closet and made to terminate 100 of those 4 pair cables. If they get the colors wrong, a switch gets thrown and a neon sign transformer, connected to their neither parts, gets energized!

I wonder how that would change their opinion of the lousy insulation colors?

Rcaman

Whenever you see CAT3 with that kind of twist it's because the manufacturer had a bad batch of CAT5 that wouldn't pass the specs. So rather than scrap it they label and sell it as CAT3.

-Hal

Is there a chance that Commscope could revert back to the old style & form, or, are Commscope CAT3 users destined to be working with "neutered" CAT5e from here on out

I have a small amount of Belden 2-pair CAT3 CMR cable and the conductors are twisted really tight.

Every place that I look for Cat3 cable to buy it costs more than Cat5E. Something I don't understand unless it has to do with the low volume of Cat3 sales.

That is what I was told by a sales rep from West Penn Wire. The factories are producing Cat 5E and Cat 6. Cat 3 is either, as was stated, Cat 5 that did not pass sweep or a special run which the factory will pass on the extra cost of setup, etc. He also said the factory may have a quantity of already spun pairs that the jacket failed to run, so rather than stop projection, they jacket the job with what is available which may be some Cat 3 leftovers. It all boils down to economics.

Rcaman

Looking at the Manitoba Telecom (our ILEC) guide for home wiring they don't recommend cat 3 for anything but alarm pre-wiring now.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Why should all rooms with the exception of
the bathroom be pre-wired with a Cat5e wire?
Technology is changing: in the near future, home
networks will expand to include more than just
computers and printers. TVs, gaming consoles,
home security systems and even smart appliances
(such as fridges) will require Internet connections.

At home, the cable is supporting analog STLs and Avaya Partner ACS system telephones. Nothing there really needs the capacity of 5e cable or related hardware.

At Church, we have an Avaya Merlin Magix with 4400 series sets and some analog door phones. There is also a small Avaya Partner ACS on hot standby. Likewise, nothing that needs 5e.

I ran 6E at home and 6A at Church for data. Overkill??? Perhaps. But I do like my appliances "dumb" rather than smart.

I guess my next question is what happens with high pair-count cable? Do they re-badge failed 25 pair CAT5E as CAT3?

I know General Cable still makes CAT-3. just bought a box a couple weeks ago.

Do the conductor pairs look like true CAT3 or do they resemble CAT5E? Commscope appears to be selling substandard CAT5E as CAT3.

Yep it's standard CAT-3. Hard to believe a company would sell substandard CAT-5, as Cat-3. If I bought some, thinking it was CAT-3, I would be pissed off and most likely take it back!

Did notice the last box of General CAT-3 I got was priced 10 bucks higher than the last one, while the CAT-5 I get stayed the same price.

I think the lower price for CAT5 is based on demand/sales volume. Having said that, I would be shocked if any reputable label sold 25 pair CAT5 cable for less than 25 pair CAT3 cable.

If the price is reasonably close, based on the small amount of cabling I do, I have no worries about going with CAT3 if that is the appropriate cable. I just wish Commscope shipped cable that was correct from the ground up. Now I'll have to untwist the pairs to punch them down on 66 blocks...but...termination on the keystone jack side is more like CAT5 and CAT6.

I will miss CAT-3 When it's gone.

Anxiter still carries 25 pair Cat 3 cable. CM-02524BAG-3 is the generic (meaning you get who ever they buy it from) and CM-02524BKT-3 is the Berk-Tek Cat 3 number. It's anyone's guess as to when these are no longer available and all one will be able to get is Cat 5 or 6 only. They also list a General Cable Cat 3 Four Pair CMP-00424BICC-3U-01. But, of course, this may be Cat 5 or 6 that did not make the sweep.

We only use Cat 6 for everything as trying to keep several Category cables stocked on all our trucks was becoming a nightmare. I don't like the Cat 6 cable for telephone work as it is more difficult to terminate than Cat 3, but, one can get used to it.

Rcaman

Generally speaking, isn't CAT6 cable still more expensive than CAT3?

While 66 blocks can accommodate 23 AWG conductors, untwisting the stuff can be a chore.

In the substandard CAT5 cable masquerading as CAT3, the Bl/Wh and Gr/Wh pairs have looser twists than the Or/Wh and Br/Wh pairs.

I just checked prices from ADI, Cat 6 is about 100 bucks more than Cat 3.

I thought that might still be the situation. I suppose there are worse things that could happen than getting bad C5 cable labeled as C3. It just seems wrong.

Dex, those different twist ratios are completely normal. Now I'm not saying they are or aren't looser than they should be, but in any cable the twist ratio is supposed to be slightly different from pair to pair. If they were the same and happened to be lined up right, there would be too much cross talk, it would partially negate it being twisted at all. I remember looking at a piece of Cat 5E and noticing that phenomenon and looking it up because I thought I got a junk roll.

True...that the differences are to deal with crosstalk. But Systimax CAT had almost no twists within the groups. Even high pair count cable had very little twisting.

I'm not familiar with OSP cable...except for drops. Are overhead cable pairs twisted? I've heard it referred to as CAT0.

Yes OSP is twisted pair.

Used to be able to look at a bunch of cables running across a ceiling and say "there is a voice cable and there is a data cable." Now it's anyone's guess.

The old lead sheathed cable with paper insulation (all the conductors were paper white) was not twisted. Since the advent of PIC cable, all pairs are twisted....even though they may be "ever-so lightly" twisted. That is why you see a lot of tiny tie wraps in the wake of a splicer when they splice a large cable. That "light twist" can unravel in a blink of an eye if you don't secure the bundle before pulling out individual pairs. The colors are all solid, so all the tips are white, or red, black, yellow or violet and all the rings are all blue, orange, green, brown and slate. No bands or strips. So, if the cable "blooms" and opens up without securing the bundle, you have a little mess on your hands.

Rcaman

Yeah. They could be audio, video, thermostat, doorbell, security, lighting- CAT 5e and now CAT6 has become the universal low voltage cable that any hack can buy at Home Depot and every sparkie uses to make a mess everywhere.

-Hal

Twice I've had issues with Sparky thinking he was going to run his low voltage cables on my hangers. In their minds, it's all the same cable.

Try running your stuff through his holes and see if he thinks that's OK.

-Hal

Ouch! That sounds painful!

Rcaman

Today I installed a wireless router in my bedroom. To get from the basement up to the room, the cable runs through outside conduit secured to the house. A few years ago, I ran an extra 2-pair Beldin CAT3 in case I wanted to hook up a test extension to my Partner ACS.

I used some of the Systimax cable to go from one of the ports on the FiOS modem to an existing 66 block. From there I connect to the 2-pair going up to the bedroom. From there I terminate onto another 66 block. Lastly I ran another piece of Systimax from the block to the Linksys wireless router sitting on my desk.

Despite the Jerry rigged arrangement, my speed seems quite good:

Ping: 31mS
Download: 23.48 Meg
Upload: 26.20 Meg

My FiOS data service level is 25/25.

An update to this topic. A few weeks ago, I posted a comment on CommScope's Facebook page. The post mentioned how I have been generally pleased with my Systimax purchases (which I have been), except for this CAT3 cable.

Yesterday, CommScope contacted me advising that someone from their Customer Service department would be in touch today.

This morning, Jonathan call me to discuss the situation.

He confirmed much of what has been said here:

. It is common practice for CAT5 cable to be labeled and sold as CAT3.
. CAT3 cable doesn't sell as well as CAT5, CAT6 and CAT6A
. Teflon is used for insulating conductors in higher rated cable products while PVC is used for lower.
. Low pair count CAT3 will...at some point...go away
. High pair count CAT3 will continue to be sold and should look and behave like traditional CAT3 cable.

He did ask why I prefered CAT3 over CAT5 and I mentioned the lack of conductor twisting makes CAT3 ideal for 66 block termination. If you want to terminate CAT5 to a 66 for digital and analog voice applications, you have to untwist and smooth out 8 wires prior to punching down onto a 66 block.

All in all, it was a good conversation. I did not intend to make what happened into a major production/issue. I just want to get word out so that anyone who orders 4 pair CAT3 cable from CommScope is aware that they may find relabeled CAT5 inside the box.

Wouldn't it be nice if an equipment manufacturer made a 66 block with IDC connectors on the side made for Cat 5-6 cable? If you know what the Verizon ONT network voice connectors look like, I think some sort of 4 pair connector with a snap cover per cable could be made to make the termination of a Cat 5 or 6 cable really simple. Then, the IDC snap connectors would be connected to the traditional M1-50 single wire IDC so as to provide full block connectivity.

Rcaman

Jonathan just called me back. He said that Commscope 4 pair CAT3 cable will physically similar to CAT5 cable. There is no old style 4 pair CAT3 cable left in Commscope's inventory. 25 and higher pair count cables will remain unchanged.

Sad about the change, but, I'll learn to adapt. So far, my new style CAT3 cable has been well behaved.

Thanks for reporting back, Paul!!

Well at least they took the time to call you. Most manufactures would not even bother.

They went one step better. FedEx just delivered a box of CAT5E blue plenum cable!

I have nothing on my plate so it is going into storage.

Still, a very thoughtful gesture.

Thank you Jonathan and Commscope!