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SECOMP Nederland GmbH
Christiaan Huygensweg 38 H
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+31 181 390 030

Network Passive Components

 

Network cables and connection technology play a crucial role in the transmission of data. Patch cables and TP cables with RJ-45 connectors are the most commonly used cable types for connecting network devices. They are inexpensive and offer a high transmission rate. Fibre optic cables, on the other hand, are more expensive but offer higher bandwidth and longer transmission distances. Choosing the right type of cable depends on the requirements that the network must meet. Proper cabling and connection technology ensures a stable connection and reliable data transmission.

Interesting facts from the field of network connection technology

A large selection of different brands and qualities, of various lengths, colours and connections gives you many possibilities to find the right cable. If you still haven't found your cable, please take note of our offer for individual cable assembly. Give us a call! We will be happy to advise you!

Twisted pair cable

"Twisted pair" is the English term for network cables with twisted or stranded wire pairs. Twisted pairs offer better protection against external alternating magnetic fields and electrostatic influences. Crosstalk between neighbouring pairs of cores within the cable is also reduced.

The copper cores consist of solid wire in installation cables and stranded wire in patch cables, usually with 7 individual wires.
The diameters of the wires are defined in AWG. Solid wires usually have a thickness of AWG 22 to 24, stranded wires AWG 24 to 27.
The insulation of the wires as well as the sheathing of the entire cable are often made of PVC, but nowadays also frequently of a halogen-free and low-smoke plastic mixture.  More on this in the section on fire protection.

Shielding

There are different approaches as to whether and how twisted pair cables should be shielded. There are clear differences in the quality of the cables, differences that are related to the intended use. Especially with higher transmission rates and longer lengths, shielded cables have considerably better transmission qualities.
It is important that the decision regarding the shielding for an installation is made consistently.

You will find the following types of shielding in our range: 

U/UTP (Unscreened/Unshielded Twisted Pair) or UTP for short:
These cables have neither a common shield nor do the individual twisted pairs have a shield. They have the lowest protective effect against electromagnetic influences.  
F/UTP (Foiled/Unshielded Twisted Pair) or FTP for short:
The wire pairs are unshielded, the cables are provided with an overall shield of aluminium-laminated foil, which envelops all wire pairs together.
A variant of this is S/UTP (Screened/Unshielded Twisted Pair): Here, too, the wire pairs are unscreened, the overall screen consists of a tinned copper braid. The quality of these cables is much higher than that of U/UTP cables.  

SF/UTP (Screened Foiled/Unshielded Twisted Pair) or S/FTP for short:
The wire pairs are unshielded, there is an overall shield of aluminium-laminated foil AND a tinned copper braid. The protective effect of this combination is even higher than with simple shielding.  

S/FTP (Screened/Shielded Twisted Pair) or S/FTP for short:
All pairs of wires are each shielded with aluminium-laminated foil, and there is an overall shield of a tinned copper braid. The paired shielding considerably dampens the interference between the pairs (the "crosstalk"). The combination of foil and braiding also has the highest possible protection against electromagnetic influences from outside.

Qualities

Twisted pair cables - as well as the associated components (e.g. junction boxes) - are divided into classes or categories depending on the transmission quality. Each class or category covers different requirements and quality specifications.
The term "category" (abbreviated to "cat.") preferably comes from American standardisation (EIA/TIA), the term "class" from international standardisation (ISO/IEC) or European standardisation (EN).
A distinction is made between specifications for individual parts or components (patch cables, connectors, installation cables, patch panels, etc.) and specifications for so-called links. Links are available as permanent links (patch panel + installation cable + junction box) and as channels (see illustration below), which include the patch cables.  
Classes C to EA (corresponding to categories 3 to 6A) are validly defined. Class F (corresponding to category 7) has been defined, but standardisation is not being pursued further. Class FA is currently in the standardisation process. 

Two remarks on this:
1. class EA (corresponds to category 6A) was specified in such a way that 10 Gigabit Ethernet can be transmitted with it.
2. for classes F and above (corresponds to categories 7 and above), the RJ-45 cannot fulfil the specifications as things stand today due to the tight contact arrangement. If patch cables are nevertheless designated as "Cat.7", it is only because the cable (material) fulfils the requirements of Cat.7 - even the highest-quality RJ-45 fulfils Cat.6A at most by itself.

To achieve optimal performance in your network, all components (patch cables, connectors, installation cables, patch panels, etc.) of a link must support the same category or class. The component with the lowest performance capacity determines the transmission class (link class) of the entire system. When using, for example, a Cat.5e cable with Cat.6 connection components, the entire link still only has Class D (Cat.5e).

Cat.5e patch cables are network cables for use in Ethernet networks. They belong to category 5e according to TIA and IEC standards and enable transmission rates of up to 1 Gbit/s over distances of up to 100 metres. The cables have better shielding against electromagnetic interference and offer higher signal quality than category 5 cables. They are backwards compatible and are used in offices and home networks.

Cat.6 patch cables are network cables for use in Gigabit Ethernet networks. They belong to category 6 according to TIA and IEC standards and enable transmission rates of up to 10 Gbit/s over distances of up to 55 metres. The cables have improved shielding against electromagnetic interference and offer higher signal quality than category 5e cables. They are backwards compatible and are used in offices and home networks with high bandwidth requirements.

 Cat.6A patch cables are network cables for high transmission rates and belong to category 6A according to TIA and IEC standards. They enable transmission rates of up to 10 Gbit/s over distances of up to 100 metres. The cables have improved shielding against electromagnetic interference and offer higher signal quality than category 6 and 5e cables. They are backwards compatible and are often used in demanding network environments such as data centres, industrial environments or audio and video applications.

Cat.7 patch cables are network cables for use in high-speed networks such as 10 Gigabit Ethernet and beyond. They belong to category 7 according to TIA and IEC standards and enable transmission rates of up to 10 Gbit/s over distances of up to 100 metres. The cables have improved shielding and offer even higher signal quality than category 6A cables. They are not backwards compatible and are used in demanding network environments such as data centres or industrial applications.

Cat.8 (Class I) patch cables are network cables designed for use in high-speed data transmission. They belong to the highest category 8 according to the TIA and IEC standards and enable transmission rates of up to 40 Gbit/s over distances of up to 30 metres. Class I refers to a higher performance class within Cat.8 that offers improved shielding and higher signal quality. These cables are backwards compatible with the lower categories of patch cables and are typically used in data centres and server rooms to ensure fast and reliable transmission of large amounts of data.

Keyword: Component Level

The quality requirements from Cat.6 / Class E are so high that often only whole links comply with the required limit values. To be sure that your link complies with class E or EA, it is better to continue to use all components (patch cables, connectors, installation cables, patch panels, etc.) from the same brand manufacturer. A so-called mix-and-match of components from different manufacturers in a link only works if the components individually pass the demanding component test for category 6 or even 6A. This is then referred to as "Cat.6 (or 6A) Component Level". In our ROLINE range you will find a large selection of such high-quality "Component Level" patch cables.

 


Fire protection: Flame retardant, low smoke, halogen-free

Especially with larger installations, it is important to pay attention to fire protection issues. The material used in the manufacture of cables should, as far as possible, not release toxic gases or corrosive substances in the event of a fire and should not form a flame. This is particularly important in enclosed spaces such as tunnels, buildings or ships to ensure the safety of people and animals. These so-called LS0H cables are therefore a common choice for applications where a low fire risk and high safety are required. There are three properties in particular that the cable sheaths and core insulation must have. These properties are flame retardancy, low smoke and halogen free. 

Flame retardancy:
A cable is classified as flame-retardant according to IEC 60332 if it does not continue to burn, or only burns for a given short distance, while a section of the cable is placed under fire for a longer period of time. 

Low smoke:
This is concerned with not releasing too much smoke in the event of a fire. For the test of low smoke according to IEC 61034, cable sections are placed under fire in a chamber for a longer period of time and the light transmission of the resulting smoke is measured by means of photocells inside the chamber.  

Freedom from halogens:
The measurement of freedom from halogens is prescribed in IEC 60754. Halogens in the material lead on the one hand to toxic vapours when burnt and on the other hand also to the formation of corrosive or caustic acids. 

LS0H / "Low Smoke Zero Halogen":
The term Low Smoke Zero Halogen (LSZH or LS0H) is often used for the classification of the cable material. This refers to low smoke and halogen-free, but not to flame resistance. We therefore name the three properties described above individually.

VALUE patch cables

VALUE has a low-priced patch cable range with a very good price/performance ratio.  Available in the categories 5e, 6, 6A and "7", in various shielding types, lengths and colours.

ROLINE patch cables

Quality makes the difference! ROLINE offers an extensive range of high-quality patch cables with transmission quality reserves even in critical environments. Available in categories 5e, 6, 6A, "7" and 8, in various shielding types, lengths and colours. 5-year functional guarantee!

ROLINE GREEN patch cable

Particularly thin and flexible DataCenter patch cables for use in confined spaces such as data centres. ROLINE GREEN products are only marked with a paper label and are made of halogen-free TPE material; plastic bags and plastic cable ties are not used.

SACON patch cables with light identification of the connectors

Enlightenment instead of a long search: without interrupting operation, you can easily and quickly find cable ends that belong together by means of light identification. saCon offers first-class shielded patch cables of categories 6 and 6A in various lengths and colours.

The patented procedure for easy assignment of the plugs to each other considerably increases operational safety; unintentional pulling of the patch cords is virtually ruled out. After contacting any patch cable side with the injector, the integrated LEDs in the RJ45 plugs light up.

DRAKA patch cables

Cables from the world market leader: Draka is now part of the largest manufacturer of data and power cables in the world. The production of the data cables we offer takes place in Central Europe under the highest quality standards. Our range of Draka patch cables includes shielded cables of categories 5e, 6 and 6A in various lengths and colours. The weakest link - as described above - is the connector; the cable material offers transmission qualities up to cat.7.

DÄTWYLER patch cables

Daetwyler stands for Swiss quality! Daetwyler cables are certainly among the best to be found on the market. Our range of Daetwyler patch cables includes shielded cables in categories 5e, 6 and 6A in various lengths and colours. Here, the weakest link - as described above - is the connector; the cable material offers transmission qualities up to Cat.7.

KERPEN DATACOM patch cable

KERPEN and DATACOM - these two names connect the leading German cable manufacturer for data transmission! Our range of patch cables from KERPEN DATACOM includes shielded cables in categories 5e, 6 and 6A in various lengths and colours. Here, the weakest link - as described above - is the connector; the cable material offers transmission qualities up to Cat.7.

Fibre optic patch cable

The transmission of information by means of light is as old as the hills. The only difference is that today we don't use candles, sunlight or mirrors for this purpose, but light from lasers or powerful light-emitting diodes, known as LEDs, as well as glass fibres. The use of so-called fibre optic cables (FOC) is slowly but steadily increasing. And for future applications - as things stand today - fibre optic technology is the only chance to transmit the required bandwidths even over distances of more than 30 metres.

You know SECOMP as a reliable partner in the field of passive network installations. This also includes a wide range of fibre optic products.
You will find a wide variety of fibre optic patch cables - also called jumpers - in our range. It starts with a simplex jumper (with only one fibre) for FTTH use. And it includes various duplex jumpers for use with very high bandwidths. We would like to highlight the new VALUE patch cables with a special flex grommet that can be flexibly bent so that the cables can be routed away from the connector at an optimal angle without risking a too small bending radius and thus damaging the optical fibre. Another highlight are the ROLINE duplex jumpers, whose plugs have a particularly low insertion loss (low loss) and are also suitable for use in particularly dense environments.

 The quality of fibre optic patch cables is determined by various features, including:

Fibre type: there are different types of fibre optic cables, such as singlemode (OS1, OS2) or multimode (OM3, OM4, OM5), which are suitable for different applications. OS1 and OS2 are designed for long distances and high bandwidth requirements and have a small core diameter of 9µm. OM3, OM4 and OM5 have a larger core diameter (50µm or 62.5µm) and are used for shorter distances and lower bandwidth requirements.

Attenuation: The attenuation properties of a patch cord determine how much signal loss there is during transmission. Low attenuation values are desirable to ensure high signal quality.

Bandwidth: The bandwidth of a patch cable indicates how much data traffic it can transmit. The higher the bandwidth, the more data can be transmitted via the patch cable. OS1 cables can transmit a maximum bandwidth of 10 Gbit/s at 1550 nm, while OS2 cables can achieve a bandwidth of up to 100 Gbit/s at 1550 nm. OM3 cables can typically achieve a bandwidth of up to 10 Gbit/s at 850 nm and up to 40 Gbit/s at 850 nm with VCSEL transmitters. OM4 cables can transmit data rates of up to 100 Gbit/s at 850 nm with VCSEL transmitters. OM5 cables can transmit data rates of up to 400 Gbit/s at 850 nm.

Connector types: The quality of connector types can have a major impact on signal quality and reliability.

Protection: Patch cables can be equipped with different types of protective layers to protect them from damage caused by environmental influences such as moisture or dust.

It is important to select the right qualities of fibre optic patch cables for the application to ensure high signal quality and reliability.

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