General Cable vs Mohawk

[fs483]

Hello,

My telecom distributor has recently suggested that I use a Cat 5e cable from general Cable. I started off with Nordx/CDT cable then went to Mohawk for a while. Now I used the GC cable once. The price of a box of GC is about 15$ less which is pretty interesting. Anyone have any experience with this brand ? I don't do a lot of cabling but I usually carry a box in my truck for emergencies.

akwong

 

[Jtodd]

I"ve been using more and more GC lately. I really like the GenSpeed 6600 cable, but it's over $500/1000ft so I've been using the GenSpeed 6500 instead. Neither of these are your $100 cat6 cables though.
I would say that GC has moved from 'stay away from' to 'top of the list', in my perseption. Peviously I had avoided their Cat3/5/5e, but have been doing a lot of research on numbers for Cat6 cable and like the GC. Also, i like their pair divider on the 6600 cable.
I would say that if you are comfortable using Mohawk or Nordx, then you should be just as comfortable with GC.
I did have a bad experience with Mohawk the one time I used it, and have used quite a bit of Nordx (also a lot of BerkTek) and would recommend either.

Justin T. Clausen
Physical Layer Implementation
California State University, Monterey Bay

 

[fs483]

Thanks Justin, good know. I guess the cost of GC vs Mohawk is much lower for my supplier. They are really pushing hard to sell GC... Even with a price difference of 15$, they are probably making more profit than selling Mohawk or Nordx. They haven't been restocking on Nordx.

 

[hawks]

Unless the customer calls for somthing else I'll use GC also and have had no problems.

 

[DenneyM]

Did someone say that they were paying $500.00 per 1000'?
NOT A GOOD DEAL! you should be buying 3000' for that price if it is pvc, and at least over 2000' if its plenum.

 

[Jtodd]

Actually, considering the cable, it's a very good price. This cable is 1000' plenum, what will be the Augmented Cat6 cable. So yes there is a big premium on it.

Justin T. Clausen
Physical Layer Implementation
California State University, Monterey Bay

 

[h5n1]

been using a lot of general cat5e and cat3...almost a couple of years now but at certain occasion site must be certified or request to be installed using such and such certification or solution method then everything is either NORDX or SYSTIMAX...anyhow, is all about the characteristics of the cable....do a test on a run with the same length on both the general cable and some other better manufacturer, put it on a fluke or omniscanner you'll know the difference. and also the feel of the jacket, tolerence and resistance to kink, burn, flexibility and softness all comes in play....personally, i really like lucent - avaya -now systimax cables.....

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greg

 

[Jtodd]

Greg

good point about the 'feel' of the cable. That's one of the reasons why Berktek has been my preferance. Particularly because of the stripability (new word?). The systimax cable has always been nice too. But at a price, which is why the switch to Berktek, then eventually Nordx. I'm sort of on a trial run with the General Cable right now. See if I like it. I really like the construction of their GenSpeed 6600 cable, but man it's really expensive.

Have you seen the new Systimax 10Gig cable? Thick as a dog's hind leg!



Justin T. Clausen
Physical Layer Implementation
California State University, Monterey Bay

 

[DenneyM]

Does anyone have a part number on that $500.00 plenum cable you were talking about. Just curious.

 

[jkelley10]

Justin,
I haven't seen the Systimax X10D cable yet, but I'm told it's thick stuff. I just attended a Systimax conference in K.C. and we were told that it has been constructed that way to help with the alien crosstalk problems that are experienced at 10G.

 

[Jtodd]

Part number General Cable GenSpeed 6600, blue, plenum :7131721

jkelley,
I was at the same Systimax conference in SF, and got a small piece of the cable. It's very thick, though not RG59 thick (I haven't looked up the OD which is probably on the web site). It's interesting cable. I think it might be easier to pull than Cat5e cable because of the stiffness, but that probably depends on your path. What's amazing is the patch cords. It's the same cable, but there is a second jacket on it. It's almost wierd. For as stiff as it is, its rather flexible (I know, a little contridictory, but couldn't think of another way to describe it). Also it's solid, not stranded cable.

Justin T. Clausen
Physical Layer Implementation
California State University, Monterey Bay

 

[franklin97355]

The number I'm hearing for the new spec is .31 dia.

 

[Jtodd]

made me go and look it up. The Systimax X10D is .31" OD, while the GenSpeed 6600 is .25 (plenum for both).

Is that new spec number a minimum or maximum?



Justin T. Clausen
Physical Layer Implementation
California State University, Monterey Bay

 

[jkelley10]

Justin,
Are you a Systimax user? What type of connectivity / cable do you use at your university?

 

[Jtodd]

We have a vast majority of Systimax installed, with a smattering of others. Though we do have a large project that is up coming that will probably be another vendors soutions (bids are due this week so I'd rather not say which).

Justin T. Clausen
Physical Layer Implementation
California State University, Monterey Bay