This title explains the installation of Cat6 plenum ethernet cable within your building, all you need to know about the cable jacket ratings and the limitations for bending the Cat6 plenum 1000ft cable. All this leads to perfect cabling infrastructure.

It was an old day teaching that the bending radius for the ethernet cable can be measured with the size of the CD or DVD — though having the same size. But have you ever figured out why you need a proper bending radius for cables like Cat6 Plenum Ethernet Cable when installing within your home or office? Here is an analogy, consider a water pipe with the proper ideal diameter, the water will flow at a constant rate but now put a hard rock in the pipe the water just stops flowing. The same is the scenario of the ethernet cable: the data signals (Conductor Wires) need a proper space without a kink to let the signal flow smoothly. 

This is the installation guide for the bulk cat6 plenum cable with a copper conductor. Also, what should be the perfect bending radius and why should you obey it? Let’s not take enough time and just come to the discussion of the cabling guides of Cat6 plenum and Cat 6 shielded plenum cable. 

Why Plenum? Advantage of Plenum Jacket

Networking cables with PVC-rated jackets offer basic protection against fire safety but they barely meet the strict fire safety regulations. To fulfill the fire safety regulations, a plenum jacket steps in.

Why is plenum fire-resistant? Also the main property of plenum fire resistive property comes from its hardcore composition of a jacket made of FEP (Fluorinated Ethylene Polymers) a highly flame retardant material to restrict the fire spreading along the floor. The Cat6 plenum cable salient benefits are as follows:

1. Fire Resistance
2. Safety Standards 
3. Indoor Cabling

• Fire Resistance — Fire is an unfortunate event and there are rare chances that the cable might catch fire but once the fire is ignited it’s hard to overcome its progression through other cables. Plenum cables minimize the risk of this catastrophic event. Cat6 plenum-rated cables are specially designed for air-handling spaces like (Air ducts, Drop ceilings, HVAC systems, Attics, etc). If you plant riser cables in the airy spaces you might be risking your cabling structure. 
• Bulk cat6 plenum cables should meet industry standards like UL 910 for plenum in the US. This fire is also safety regulation will allow cat6 plenum 1000ft cable to be used for indoor installations like (Schools, Universities, Hospitals, and other buildings that require fire safety regulations. 
• Cat6 plenum ethernet cable is used for the horizontal spaces of the buildings where they show maximum lifespan. Moreover, the plenum jacket is also a UV-resistant material, and LSZH (Low Smoke Zero Halogens) upon burning emits non-toxic smoke. The cable can be easily used for the horizontal and vertical runs of the buildings. Avoid using the plenum cable outdoors as it will not survive for maximum time. 

Horizontal Runs and Plenum Safety: Why It Matters

In the buildings, there are horizontal and vertical spaces that travel across the floor. It also covers the ceiling grid and along walls. So the engineers mandate the use of fire safety jackets in the plenum area of the buildings. 

If installed in bulk, you cannot use a mixer of riser and plenum cables within the plenum spaces to cut the cost of buying cat6 plenum cables. So, the shielded Cat6 plenum 1000ft cables are used for longer runs and also to protect the cable from internal damage.

If you are not sure about the plenum jacket, look for the acronym (CMP, PLM, PL) used by different manufacturers to identify the plenum cable. Moreover cat6 plenum 1000ft cable will be the right fit for gigabit speed and extreme protection. It’s the best combo you will ever get. 

Cat6 Plenum Ethernet Cable: Speed and Applications

The cat6 plenum ethernet cable is an improved addition to the ethernet cable category. You can use this cable for longer runs to meet the gigabit speed requirements. The inner structure of the cable is quite sophisticated and therefore you can see a tight twisted pair having 5-6 twists per inch. This zigzag pattern will help out in minimizing the crosstalk and signal attenuation.

With these improved twisted pairs the cable ought to deliver two-speed variations — for longer (328ft) and shorter (164ft). At longer lengths, the maximum speed is 1 Gbps (1000 Mbps), and for shorter distances 10 Gbps (10,000 Mbps). The twisted pairs of Cat6 plenum 1000ft cable bound the signal strength and minimized the insertion loss as well. So you get the right speed.

The bulk cat6 plenum cable has a 2x faster bandwidth frequency of 550 MHz, that does support the Fast Ethernet Applications. The cat6 plenum is backward compatible and uses a RJ45 connector and it can be used for 10BASE-T (Ethernet). 100BASE-T (Fast Ethernet), 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet), and 10GBASE-T (Future Ethernet). It is also advised that the cable can meet the 802.3 PoE standards. The most common PoE standards are 802.3af (PoE), 802.3at (PoE+), and 802.3bt (PoE++). You can use this cat6 plenum cable for 15 watts, 30 watts, and 60-90 watts. 

The Bending Radius: Protecting Your Cable’s Performance

The installation of ethernet cables is quite tough and if you are new to installing these cables then you need to read this. During the installation of ethernet cables, the bending of cables is a critical point which can be dangerous if you bend the cable over its limit.

For every cable like Bulk Cat6 Plenum or Cat 6 Shielded Plenum Cable both cables have their different bending radius. Also this means both cables have different specs to cater to sharp bends within the buildings. The recommended diameter of the Cat6 plenum unshielded cable is 4x times the diameter of the cable.

For Cat6 plenum cables the actual size is 1 inch which translates to 2.54 cm. The rule of thumb of 4x diameter is the best recommendation for installing cables. Also these are for cat6 plenum cable unshielded. For Cat 6 shielded plenum cable bending radius is 2 inches and 4.9 cm in diameter. The following bending installation for other advanced cables may differ and should be asked before deploying. 

Final Verdict

Which jacket is more close to the fire safety regulations of the buildings? This blog explains the installation location for the cat6 plenum and the bending radius to install the cables at the special challenging locations.

If you follow these guidelines you will end up installing your cat6 plenum ethernet cable properly which functions properly. Remember a well-installed cabling infrastructure brings a reliable network.