WHITE 100FT CAT5 CAT5e RJ45 PATCH ETHERNET NETWORK CABLE 100 FT

by Citi Electronics

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B002HJXGFS
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: 32-N1105-HD
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (86 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
  • #30 in Electronics > Accessories & Supplies > Cables > Computer > Ethernet Cables
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 15, 2009

Product Description

Cat.5E UTP 350MHz Patch Cable, Molded with Snagless Boot, T568B, Gray, 100ft Cat.5E cables are used for networking, data transfer, and phone lines primarily. Connect a PC to a DSL/Cable Modem, Hub, Switch, and Router. Connect a Xbox to DSL/Cable Modem, Hub, Switch, Router, or PS2 Play Station. Support 10 / 100 / 1000 Mbps Available in Gray, Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, Black, White and Orange.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars THIS IS NOT A CAT5 CABLE, March 1, 2011

By 

Ulic Qel-Droma "geek" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: WHITE 100FT CAT5 CAT5e RJ45 PATCH ETHERNET NETWORK CABLE 100 FT (Electronics)

The requirements for a CAT5 cable call for single twisted pair wires to cancel out electromagnetic interference : [...]. Each of the four pairs in a Cat 5 cable has differing precise number of twists per metre based on prime numbers to minimize crosstalk between the pairs, on average 6 twists per 2 inches.

This product does not have twisted wires and that makes it, by definition, NOT a CAT5e cable, not even a CAT5.

Since it's a patch cable, it does use stranded wires, which also means, as another reviewer observed, that you cannot cut it and put new connectors on it, since the flexibility of the wires make it hard to push it all the way in.

On top of that, I don't think the wires are copper, since copper is not supposed to look silvery (see picture).

But wait, it gets worse - I don't think it's 24 AWG cable either. Of course, since it's stranded it makes it a bit more difficult to measure it, but as far as I can tell, the diameter is closer to that of 26 AWG than 24. My caliper read 0.42 mm; 26AWG is 0.40mm, which is closer if you account for the stranded wires, while 24AWG is supposed to be 0.51mm.

All these factors are bad enough by themselves, but if you add that to the length of the cable, it makes for an abysmal quality item.

Out of the box this cable only connected at 100T speeds, gigabit connection was not possible.

On the plus side, the wire is pretty flexible, which in theory should make for really good wiring around the house, but running untwisted cable over a 100ft is just asking for trouble.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Decent cable, March 17, 2010

By 

Michael Pelegrin (WI) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: WHITE 100FT CAT5 CAT5e RJ45 PATCH ETHERNET NETWORK CABLE 100 FT (Electronics)

This 100ft cable is a good cable, it is good for running through the walls to hook up a Xbox 360 or PC to a router. The only reason I gave it four out of five stars is because the cable was made with poor connectors. The cheep connectors that come with it correctly lock into the Ethernet port but are slightly too small, which allows them to come loose and disconnect from the internet. As long as you are not moving the computer or Xbox while you are using them, then this cable will work fine for you. If you need to be able to move something while using it. Then find a better cable.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible cable - not even cat5, April 22, 2011

By 

Matt - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: WHITE 100FT CAT5 CAT5e RJ45 PATCH ETHERNET NETWORK CABLE 100 FT (Electronics)

Just steer clear of these cables. I bought several of these cables as a relatively cheap way to wire some rooms in the house for Internet access. You get what you pay for.

First of all, as another reviewer stated, this isn't even cat5 cable. None of the wire pairs are twisted. Wire pairs are twisted to reduce crosstalk. Twisted pairs are part of the cat5 spec. No twisted pairs = no cat5.

Second, the wires are probably 26AWG, instead of the 22AWG or 24AWG required. That means that you can't cut the ends off these and expect to wire the cable to a wall jack. The wall jacks I use require a punch-down tool to push the wire into a couple of metal pins. The pins typically cut through the rubber sleeve on the wire and make contact with the wire itself. Since these wires are thinner than required, the rubber is never cut sufficiently, resulting in inconsistent contact.

Third, the connectors on the end are just crap. They are small, so they move around in the RJ45 port on switches, routers, or computers. This causes any connection you might have to drop in and out. Also, the pins on the connector are smaller than on a known good cable connector. The pins are about half the width of a good cable, again resulting in bad connections.

Fourth, the wires are not copper. Reading up on cheap cat5 cables, I see that copper-clad aluminum is being used in cheap wires. Copper is used in wires for a reason. It conducts the signal much better than other materials while still keeping a good price point. The copper-clad aluminum will pretty much rule out using these cables for gigabit ethernet connections. You'll be lucky to get 100Mbit connections.

Luckily, I only ran a couple of these wires before discovering all of this, so I don't have to do too much work to rewire those rooms. The price on these cables was too good to be true and now I know why. Don't waste your money. Buy some better quality cables. You'll spend more up front, but you'll be happier in the end.