New Guide to Ethernet Cat 5e & Cat 6 Testing!

Many of you will be familiar with RJ45 Cables in the Cat 5e & Cat 6 formats they are pretty much commonplace with anyone that has an office network or Broadband Router at home.

However, for those of us in the manufacturing there is a whole lot more to these simple looking cables than meets the eye.

Most people in manufacturing when making their own cables an off the shelf one won’t do, for example a specific length or colour cable / boot configurations the usual practice is to use a simple continuity tester.


In most cases this is fine, that is if you are happy with fine or that will do.  However, there is so much more to accurately testing and understanding the complex tests network analyses perform.

Firstly, let’s look at all the tests required to certify you have correctly made your cable to the correct Cat 5e & Cat 6 standards, these are according to ANSI/TIA‑568:

1.Wire Map
2.Length
3.Propagation Delay
4.Delay Skew
5.DC Loop Resistance – recorded for information only
6.DC Resistance Unbalance – recorded for information only
7.Insertion Loss
8.NEXT (Near-End Crosstalk)
9.PS NEXT (Power Sum Near-End Crosstalk)
10.ACR-N (Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio Near-End) – recorded for information only
11.PS ACR-N (Power Sum Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio Near-End) – recorded for information only
12.ACR-F (Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio Far-End)
13.PS ACR-F (Power Sum Attenuation to Crosstalk Ratio Far-End)
14.Return Loss
15.TCL (Transverse Conversion Loss) – recorded for information only
16.ELTCTL (Equal Level Transverse Conversion Transfer Loss) – recorded for information only


It’s important to note that testing to true Ethernet standards is a complex and in depth subject and we’ll save the details for the each of the above tests and their meaning / function for the next blog.

What this clearly demonstrates is that most people can knock up a Ethernet Cable however, if you need it to work to the full speed and functionality you must test to the correct standards.

Many slow networks have been identified by their poorly made cables so it’s an important part of the network to get right.  Which is why really only highly skilled well trained technicians should make the cable since they are probably the only people that will have the proper network analyzers for the job.

PS.  If you think we can help We have loads of useful information, tips and ideas so when designing new cables or giving an old cables a re-vamp Contact Us NOW to see how we can help make thing easier!

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