Cheap CAT 5?

I picked up a spool of 1000 ft for 39 bucks from frys. and make my own.

it would cost me like 2-3 bucks to make a 50ft cable.
 
good deal but i dont need 1000ft though....lol....and i dont think i will anytime soon...haha....thanks though....ill consider cuz its such a good deal
 
The cheapest route is typically to buy a spool of CAT5 (or CAT5e), a crimper, and a bag of RJ11 ends, and make your own. You get the added benefit of having your cables be exactly the length you need/want.
 
Originally posted by Zardoz
wow 15 to 18 bucks on 50ft cat 5 to cat 6 and I can make them for about 3 bucks....
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Thats why you use both stores to see which is better :rolleyes:

What cheap cable are you using BTW, and are your ends molded? Also, are you mr. Joe WITHOUT a crimper? You need to factor in those costs when you are only in need of one or two cables.

I would not trust my company on home made cables...sorry.

PS. Long runs are always more premade. Short runs are much cheaper.
 
and the solid cat5 everyone is buying at homedepot is not for making patch cables. unreliability ++

(now I know 50 people are going to say "i made all the cables at my moms house and they work just fine" even though there are split pairs, RJ45s for stranded on solid wire, and the cable jacket ends 1/2" before the plug starts -thats what boots are for right?)

as someone who's company went through something like $70k worth of network wiring stuff last year -I shudder at the thought of home made cables
 
Originally posted by skylab
and the solid cat5 everyone is buying at homedepot is not for making patch cables. unreliability ++

(now I know 50 people are going to say "i made all the cables at my moms house and they work just fine" even though there are split pairs, RJ45s for stranded on solid wire, and the cable jacket ends 1/2" before the plug starts -thats what boots are for right?)

as someone who's company went through something like $70k worth of network wiring stuff last year -I shudder at the thought of home made cables
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As someone whose (note the spelling) company routinely makes their own cables, there is a way to do it properly. Just as with pretty much everything else, you can do an outstanding job, or a crappy job. The choice is up to you.

With practice, a good cable tester, and a decent crimper, it's trivial to make professional-grade cabling.

I suppose you buy your 110's pre-punched as well? :)
 
Originally posted by skritch
As someone whose (note the spelling) company routinely makes their own cables, there is a way to do it properly. Just as with pretty much everything else, you can do an outstanding job, or a crappy job. The choice is up to you.

With practice, a good cable tester, and a decent crimper, it's trivial to make professional-grade cabling.

I suppose you buy your 110's pre-punched as well? :)
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I'll back skylab on this.


So you can have $10,000 worth of testing equipment... does that make it an effective choice for ONE 50' cable or maybe two?

You guys are comparing costs of cable plus ends to make your cables.... vs pre made cables. You need to factor in all your equipment + time + how many cables you need to make.


Even if you make 10 cables, it's still not cheaper than premade cables. Now if you made 100 or 1000 cables, then it is MUCH cheaper... but then you are talking about a lot of time that could have been invested elsewhere... especially when you are talking about a network tech's salary for him to sit there and crimp all day.
 
I usually make my own cables. I have always used solid cable and solid plugs, so I have not had problems. I have to agree that there is definitely a right and wrong way to make cables, the tech guys I worked with at school last summer did not do a great job.
But, if I was an admin, with a budget to maintain, I would buy premade cables instead of spending my time or paying someone to make cables.
 
Originally posted by SupaFly99
I'll back skylab on this.


So you can have $10,000 worth of testing equipment... does that make it an effective choice for ONE 50' cable or maybe two?

You guys are comparing costs of cable plus ends to make your cables.... vs pre made cables. You need to factor in all your equipment + time + how many cables you need to make.


Even if you make 10 cables, it's still not cheaper than premade cables. Now if you made 100 or 1000 cables, then it is MUCH cheaper... but then you are talking about a lot of time that could have been invested elsewhere... especially when you are talking about a network tech's salary for him to sit there and crimp all day.
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Err...being a not-for-profit, with very little money, believe me, those costs were considered. Guess which is cheaper?

The person to whom I was responding was suggesting premade cables are better, particularly for businesses. I simply rebutted that point. You then reframed my comments as having to do with home use. My comments on quality apply to home use as well as business use; I made no comments on cost, except to say it's cheaper to buy a spool, a crimper, and a bag of RJ11 ends rather than purchase the same length premade. And it is; 1000' of spool + accessories is cheaper than 1000' of premade CAT5 in commonly-used lengths. MUCH cheaper.

The person also made an unfounded assumption that everyone's buying solid-core CAT5 rather than stranded. I have no idea where that came from.
 
When I said everyone is buying solid core cat5, that would be the majority of people who reply to posts such as this with "OMG make your own I bought a 1000' box of cat5, 100 RJ45s, and a crimper on ebay for $30" Maybe my statements were too general without the usual disclaimer of "now I know not everyones like this, but I have seen a lot of this on forums"
and we're even on the spelling of who's/whose vs. RJ11 you mean RJ45 ;)
 
Originally posted by skylab
When I said everyone is buying solid core cat5, that would be the majority of people who reply to posts such as this with "OMG make your own I bought a 1000' box of cat5, 100 RJ45s, and a crimper on ebay for $30" Maybe my statements were too general without the usual disclaimer of "now I know not everyones like this, but I have seen a lot of this on forums"
and we're even on the spelling of who's/whose vs. RJ11 you mean RJ45 ;)
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Fair enough. :) I'm on heavy pain medication, though. :D
 
Whats the difference between solid core and stranded? I googled it and it said that solid is meant for walls and stranded are meant for patch cables. Is there more use than that? Does anyone have pictures that can show the difference?
 
solid cable is like the electrical wire in your house. It is one solid piece of copper (each conductor)
stranded cable is like an extension cord, multiple strands of copper twisted together. Since it is multiple strands instead of one piece, it is more flexible and suited for patch cords which will be moved around.
 
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