trueCABLE Cat6A Riser (CMR), 1000ft, Black, 23AWG 4 Pair Solid Bare Copper, 750MHz, PoE++ (4PPoE), ETL Listed, Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP), Bulk Ethernet Cable

The media could not be loaded. Bought the 1000ft blue roll. It is heavy (obviously) but just be mindful of that. Also, the cable is sturdy and takes a bit of force to bend around corners. Careful when you do that so you don't crimp it and brake a connector! Unwinding the pairs is a bit hard (which is good as they are solid copper!) so be mindful of that. Use pliers (gently).The quality seems pretty good; snaked it through a new build so had a lot of space to move around.Bends nicely with a bit of soft pressure. The aluminum sleeve (shielding) looks great and the plastic spine inside keeps the cables neatly organized. The coloring of all wires is easy to distinguish.Remember that you need the correct equipment to get use of the shielded pair part; otherwise just go with the regular Cat6 or even Cat5E.

If you are looking for top quality CAT6A CMR indoor cable at a reasonable price, then you just found it.I install Wi-Fi networks and camera systems and this particular cable is meant for an inside Wi-Fi AP/Switch/Router/Server installation. When I made my choice, I went by the following criteria:• The cable must be solid copper. Many of the runs I install are up to 300 feet. Stranded copper should not be used past 75 feet.• The cable must be CAT6A since the network I will be installing will, in the future, require 10G Ethernet over copper out to the maximum possible distance limitation of 328 feet.• The cable must be properly documented so I can select the proper connector to use with it. I will not trust cable this is not fully documented up front.• The cable must meet all EIA/TIA specifications and if used inside walls (not plenum air spaces) then it must further be CMR rated so it does not promote the spread of a fire.Fortunately, trueCABLE (unlike many others) has properly published the specifications on the cable and I selected the Platinum Tools ezEX-44 unshielded connector. Since this connector is specific to Platinum Tools, you are also required to use the ezEX0 crimp tool and interchangeable die system. The two most critical specifications needed are the OD or outside diameter of the cable jacket and the OD of the conductor insulation, which basically means the copper conductor diameter PLUS accounting for the insulation around the conductor. It is NOT enough that a connector says “CAT6A compatible”, nor is it enough that a particular connector says it will work with “23 AWG” conductors. Each cable manufacturer will have different ODs for the cable and conductors. In this case, the cable OD is 7.30mm and the OD of the conductor insulation is 1.02mm. Very few connectors on the market will work with such a thick cable OD of 7.30mm, so careful research was necessary. When I selected the connector, I needed to know what the connector would accept and as it turns out, Platinum Tools also properly documents their connectors. The ezEX-44 accepts cable ODs up to 7.36MM and conductor OD range of 1.0 – 1.12mm. Perfect! This connector has the added advantage that it is pull-through in design and does not use load bars, plus the conductors stagger 4 high and 4 low to minimize near and far end cross talk, which is critical for high bandwidth applications. See my pictures for how this looks.Taking the cable off the spool, this stuff is stout. The jacket is thick and the interior of the cable has a “spline” which separates the pairs to minimize cross talk. The spline further helps with keeping the cable from kinking while running it. There is a rip cord inside the cable, but I did not make use of that. You should use a cable stripper when terminating cable to RJ45 connectors. For such a thick cable, you are well advised to get a heavy-duty adjustable stripper such as the “Big Red” or BR-1 type. I took pictures of the inside of the cable.Overall, I am impressed with the quality of this cable! I wrote a long review here with pictures because this product really deserves it.Oh, and this was all at a lower price than Vertical Cable’s similar offering. I have used Vertical Cable and while they are comparable in quality, their cable costs more.

TrueCABLE Cat6A Shielded Riser (CMR), 1000ft, Black, 23AWG Solid Bare Copper, 750MHz, ETL Listed, Overall Foil Shield (FTP):I like this cable and would recommend it and buy it again.Comes on a nice wooden reel that is spooled up correctly. The outer jacket scores well and is easily removed with a snap, it is consistent in thickness and does a good job of protecting the inner contents. I would say it is "just right" in terms of ease of working with it and cable protection. There is a "rip" cord in the jacket that lets you split the outer casing, if you wish to use it. The next layer is foil that is thick and covers the entire outer diameter of the cable. A shield or ground wire is embedded in that layer. That shield wire appears to be about 27 AWG, my best guess. The next layer is a clear thin plastic film, a good thing. Each of the four pairs is wrapped on a flexible plastic "X" form that cuts easily and guides the pairs in the cable. The conductors of the pairs are nice bright shiny solid copper 23 AWG wire.I found that some of the pairs were more tightly wrapped than others. My blue pair was a bit looser then the tightly wound orange pair for instance. I wanted to point this out as it is the only thing worth mentioning as a con.As far as others have mentioned about flexibility, it is pretty good for 6A cable. You certainly don't want to make a sharp bend in the cable, as it would dramatically affect the bandwidth, but ANY Cat 6A cable can be a challenge to navigate in an outlet box for termination. As cables go up in category they add more shields and other geometry stabilizing material. This is going to make cables even stiffer in the future; think Cat 7, Cat 8. Keep in mind that this is not a cable problem, it is a installation problem that needs to be addressed by more appropriate installation products available for denser cables.I had no problems terminating the cable to ends or keystones. The jacket is of suitable diameter for those products listed to be used with Cat 6A.Recommended.

"Cutting the cable" meant adding devices. So many that I decided to network everything. I made the mistake of buying flat CAT6 for my cable runs. Our cable guy was at our house for a modem issue and noticed that I was using flats. His comment: "I think they're junk." I found out that he was right. My old mishmash of CAT5e performed better.I decided to cut my losses and rewire a second time using this CAT6A 23GA copper unshielded riser cable. I invested in the tools, RJ45 ends, keystone wall ends, etc. This cable was a good choice... nice abrasion resistance and it cut and stripped easily. I ran it through ceilings, up raceways, through the attic and garage... it performed well. It is a stiff product due to its 6A diameter but it came off the spool well. I chose to remove the coil memory first for each cable run... running out 60 feet or so and uncoiling the cable by hand. My last long run, I used a cordless drill to remove the coil with my son helping on the other end.Photo #2 shows the disastrous flat CAT6 (white), what I feel is true CAT6 (black), and this product in CAT6A (gray).