This comprehensive guide will allow you to understand the Bulk ethernet cable difference between residential ethernet cable and Industrial ethernet cables. Both LAN cables have become popular in serving the installation needs of different users.
Bulk ethernet cables are naturally used for LAN and WAN setups and are in high demand for residential, commercial, and industrial needs. One of the main confusion is which bulk network cable is more appropriate for the installation — Indoor or outdoor for residential and industrial setups.
To know the difference between the two types of Ethernet Cables —- Industrial and residential. You need to go through this blog as it will provide you with better information regarding the common types of Cat 5e ethernet cable, Cat6 plenum ethernet cable, and the bulk cat6a plenum cable. Let’s peek into the residential ethernet cables and their specs.
Residential Bulk Ethernet Cables
Every house needs internet connectivity to perform various operations due to the work-from-home trend becoming live and different companies asking different employees to work from their ease. Such things demand a stable networking LAN structure. So which one is your favorite? Here we go.
There are three most prominent types of Network Cables that you can easily use for your residential cabling purpose. The three types of cables are Cat5e ethernet cable, Cat6 plenum cable, and bulk cat6a plenum. Starting with the most common type of Residential LAN cable.
Cat 5e Ethernet Cable
| Cat5e Ethernet Cable Specs | |
| Attributes | Description |
| Speed | The residential Cat5e cable supports 100/1000 Mbps speed |
| Bandwidth | Experience the 350 MHz frequency for data transmission |
| Max. Length | 100 Meters (328ft) |
| Shielding | Mostly unshielded twisted pairs (UTP) |
| Usage | Houses, small offices, backyards, garages, and other related locations with a minimum amount of EMI. |
Cat6 Ethernet Cable
| Cat6 Ethernet Cable Features | |
| Attributes | Description |
| Speed | 1/10 Gbps for longer runs installation |
| Bandwidth | 550 MHz for supreme data transmission speed |
| Conductor size | 23 AWG pure copper conductor |
| Installation Limit | 328ft (100 meters) |
| Usage | Gaming, PoE/+/++, HD streaming (4 and 8K) |
Cat6a Ethernet Cable
| Cat 6a Ethernet Cable | |
| Attributes | Description |
| Speed | 10 Gbps constant speed |
| Bandwidth | 750 MHz double the speed of Cat6 |
| Conductor size | 23 AWG pure copper conductor |
| Installation limit | 100 meters |
| Usage | Industrial setups, high-end applications, and PoE up to 100 watts |
The above tables show the main part of the cable specs and the ideal usage. Residential LAN cables do not require special shielding cables as there is limited EMI to fight which is controlled by the twisted pair conductors of the cables.
However, they do have special cases to protect the cable from severe incidents like fire protection, installation location, and the LSZH properties. Here Cat 5e ethernet cable comes with a plenum jacket, is highly fire resistant, and meets the various safety codes. Similarly, cat6 plenum and cat6a plenum cables are in the market to fulfill the demand and safety.
Industrial Ethernet Cable Types
Physically there are no differences in Residential and Industrial ethernet cables except the compliance standards. The other major difference is the shielding type of cable to install as there are high EMI fields that can restrict the LAN cable’s performance.
The shielded cable types are F/UTP, U/FTP, S/FTP, SF/FTP, F/FTP, etc. The F denotes Aluminum Foil and the S represents the Braided Mess. These types of ethernet cables are frequently used in educational institutions, hospitals, medical laboratories, IT sectors, and Factory areas to fight against artificial and real EMI sources.
Protection Features For Industrial Ethernet Cables
Industrial Ethernet cables are quite an impressive but costly option for your building installation. There are some special codes like UL 90A (Proposed by NFPA). This certifies that the cable is perfect to install in Plenum HVAC spaces of the buildings. Some of the main features that you should look at are as follows.
- Heavy Duty Jackets — Ethernet cables are made of FEP, TPU, or PVC material to protect the physical structure and to meet the fire safety requirements of the building. Just like Cat6 plenum ethernet cable and Bulk Cat6a plenum are both types of industrial cables.
- Temperature Ratings — Industry installation of bulk ethernet cables demands safety and also bears harsh temperature warnings. The cable should meet the -20 to 65 degrees Celsius temperature to protect the internal structure of the cable. It includes operating temperature, storage, and installation temperature.
- Shielding Options — Which shielded cable is more suitable for deployment? Cat6 shielded plenum F/UTP is more often purchased due to comparatively low prices than other cables. Anyhow, you have other options too.
- Environmental Conditions — before installation, look for moisture, humidity, and chemical exposure to make suitable arrangements to install the cable.
- Data Transmission Speed — Industrial cabling cannot bear data fluctuations; they demand stable networking so that all the operations are intact.
- Future Proofing Needs — Sometimes, there is a need to install the latest gadget or technology which demands a gigabit or faster speed so it should be in mind to futureproof your network infrastructure.
- Cost and Budget — The last thing is the cost and the budget when we say Industrial Ethernet Cables it means you have to invest in high-priced cables. They are not general cables (UTP) but shielded cables are more expensive but more reliable in case they oppose the extra signals.
Conclusion
In essence, the Residential and Industrial Ethernet Cables the difference is the intent to use the cables. If you see residential cables all the houses, offices, and the SMEs are using the UTP cables to smoothly run their operations. On the other hand, industrial ethernet cables are likely to obey stringent properties that may define them as a hard shell.
There is no physical difference but internal and installation differences as one demands high EMI field security and residential LAN cables demand less EMI but you should still focus on the cable assembly and the location to ensure that the cable will bear the external environments.
