CablePedia
Cost saving ideas that can cost you a fortune…
Posted on Wednesday, 22nd December 2010 by MikeSo your boss tells you to find a way to reduce your spend on the cable system you buy. You’ve done your home work; you know that you’re already getting very competitive prices on product and installation. Then along comes someone touting the lowest price ever for patch cords!
What brand are they? No brand (or at least you’ve never heard of them before) just a cheap price, but the package shows a UL mark and it says they meet Cat6 specifications so they must be ok, right? Not so much. There’s about an 85% chance that you’re not getting what you’re paying for.
I feel like I’m tuning into the poster boy for the Communications Cable & Connector Association (www.cccassoc.org), I’m not trying to, but they are doing what I wish I could…that is they’re testing the performance and safety claims of generic non-branded cable system components.
What they’ve recently discovered is amazing. “Test results show an 85% failure rate in patch cords produced offshore by companies who are largely unknown in North America”. They go on to say that it’s not where the cord is made, it’s about whose reputation is on the line that dictates quality.
One more troubling issue (and they count on this), you won’t know the cord doesn’t meet spec. The lights will come on, you’ll get a link. But the Cat6 performance that you just paid “extra” for will be slowed to something less. The only way to tell is to have them tested. You can do this with a Fluke tester (DTX1800 w/Cord adaptors). It’ll only cost $8500 or so.
So when you buy cabling components for your customer’s site or your own site, whose reputation are you concerned about? I’m concerned not just about our reputation, but also yours. I want you to call us because we can make you just a little more successful than you were before. I believe we can help you buy a good cord at a competitive price that’ll meet the spec and allow your system to fly.
I hope we can help you,
Mike
Tags: Cat5e, Cat6, ccca, dtx1800, Network Cable, patch cords, UL, www.cccassoc.org
Posted in Network Cabling | Comments (1)
January 24th, 2011 at 4:28 pm
We agree that testing is an imperative for safety and performance.
How many CMP labelled cables domestically mfg have failed the NFPA 262 test on retest from distribution? If the answer is none, then the labelling program is a sham.
We do not support CCCA, because they have not re-tested the products of their members (from distribution).
Frank Bisbee – Editor
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