Question Flat Cat 6 Cables Reliability

[Witterings]

I've had a couple of flat cat 6 cables as they're better for going under carpet that have not lasted, I'm not sure if they've got damaged as one of them's in an area that gets walked / vacuumed over (the other wasn't) or if maybe I just bought cheap ones and that's the reason or if generally that're not that "hard wearing".

Interested to hear other people's experinces with them or have I maybe been a bit unlucky and buying better quality ones may help?

 

[kanewolf]

I've had a couple of flat cat 6 cables as they're better for going under carpet that have not lasted, I'm not sure if they've got damaged as one of them's in an area that gets walked / vacuumed over (the other wasn't) or if maybe I just bought cheap ones and that's the reason or if generally that're not that "hard wearing".

Interested to hear other people's experinces with them or have I maybe been a bit unlucky and buying better quality ones may help?

IMO, they are all garbage. Don't buy flat cables.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Flat cables do NOT meet specifications. As above, stay far away from them.

 

[Witterings]

Not the response I was hoping for but much appreciated as it saves me the frustration of buying more and finding they fail .. shame as they're so much easier to lose under carpet!

Cheers for the replies, much appreciated👍

 

[bill001g]

Note don't buy those thin cables either. Hard to say why the cables failed under the carpet, you can damage any cable which is why you do not run power cords under carpet.

The problem with flat cables and many of the thin ones is they use wires that are much too thin to actually get certified to be a ethernet cable. Technically they might look like ethernet cable but they are not. The wire must be pure copper with size 22-24 awg.

 

[Grobe]

I once had a 3m long similar type of cable, I was able to get 100Mbps. This was over a floor where no source of noise was nearby.

 

[bill001g]

I once had a 3m long similar type of cable, I was able to get 100Mbps. This was over a floor where no source of noise was nearby.

Pure luck. Since these cable are not following any standards there also is no way to even think to compare cable manufactured by different companies. They all manufacture them how ever they want. Some work better than other but none will be certified. The big thing they tend to fail is running POE near the 100 meters ethernet cable limit.

 

[Grobe]

Pure luck.

Yes indeed, I was meant to brag about "my cable", but due to my not very sophisticated English knowledge, I failed to make it appear that way 😎

 

[Witterings]

I once had a 3m long similar type of cable, I was able to get 100Mbps. This was over a floor where no source of noise was nearby.

The 2 I had that failed their behaviour was strange, they'd run at 70Mbs and would over a 2/3 day period reduce to 8/12Mbps .... reboot switches / access points and they'd jump back up to the 70 again.

This happened on a very regular basis over many months, I changed them out about 6 months ago and it hasn't happened once since.

It's a shame as they're so much easier to lose under carpet.

 

[bill001g]

The problem is cable of any kind do not like to be walked on. When you put them under the carpet you will not step over them like you would if they are on the top.

Over time this constant flexing of the cable will crack the wires inside the cable. The flat cables because they are already much too thin drop even farther out of spec even with tiny cracks.

Then again it could be the much more common thing that the wires in the ends because slightly lose due to thermal cycles or plugging/unplugging them. The flat cables fail much more commonly that normal cable due to this.

Not sure what to recommend. Flat cable are always a huge gamble, they may not function new out of the package. Any wire you are constantly walking on is going to be damaged. Maybe you could use the outdoor rated direct bury cables. Those have a much stronger outside plastic layer which should spread the stress over a larger area.
Problem is these are even thicker so might be noticeable under even carpet.

Do you have a path even if it is long to follow a wall. In most cases you should be able to push standard ethernet cable under the edge of the baseboard. There generally is a slight area for carpet to go under and then there is a area where the drywall does not go all the way to floor behind the baseboard. The carpet should compress just enough to allow you to push the cable under the baseboards and then to the gap behind it.