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brothertruffle880Flag for United States of America

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Ethernet cabling - Cat 5, etc.

What should I look for when purchasing ethernet cabling?  Is "cat" important?
I also want to have fire resistant cable.
I'm referring to RJ45 type of cabling.
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Norm Dickinson

The higher the CAT level, the better quality the cable and connections and the higher the level of testing it has undergone. On short runs of 7 or 15 feet or so for short patch cords, there isn't very much difference from one level to the next, but you should be the same on all connections and the higher the better. Longer runs should have the highest category level you can afford - that's no place to save ten dollars on a big job.
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Two more questions:
1.  How many cats are there?
2.  What is a booted cable?  Why does a cable need a boot?
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Dave Baldwin
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Why do you need a boot.  I find them cumbersome to work with?
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