November 04, 2023
There are many counterfeit twisted pair cables on market now, and counterfeit cables have same markings as real cables. In addition to fake wires, there are many situations in market where category 3 cables are used to imitate category 5 cables and category 5 cables. Since twisted pair is difficult to replace after it is installed, quality of cable must be strictly controlled. Here are some ways to distinguish a real twisted pair from a fake one:
First trick
Carefully check integrity of cable packaging. The true twisted pair packaging box should be good enough in terms of material texture and text printing, executive standard, product category, line length, etc.
Second trick
Be mindful of class of line. The category 5 logo is "cat5", super category 5 logo is "cat5e", and category 6 logo is "cat6". The printed characters on plastic sheath of original network cable are very clear and smooth, with virtually no nicks. The print quality of fakes is poor, some fonts are fuzzy and very jagged. Genuine category 5 wires are labeled "cat5", super category 5 wires are labeled "5e", and fakes are usually labeled with capital letters such as "CAT5" and "5E". If these words are rubbed hard, false ones will easily lose their color.
Third move
You can feel touch while watching. Real thread is pleasant to touch and has a smooth skin; fake thread uses low quality wire to save money, which feels sticky and has a certain stale feel. Squeeze network cable firmly, it should feel full, soft and moderate. When you pull on a normal network cable with both hands, you may find that outer sheath is stretched. Since general manufacturers consider that network cable often needs to be bent during wiring when making network cable, leaving a certain degree of stretch for outer jacket, and trying to make it very flexible, no matter how it is bent, it is very convenient and not easy to break and tie. However, for informal products, some unscrupulous manufacturers add other metal elements to copper in order to reduce cost of production. The wires produced are relatively rigid, not easy to bend, and prone to detachment during use.
The fourth trick
To reduce signal interference, each pair of wires in a twisted-pair cable is twisted (also known as twisted) counterclockwise, and different pairs of wires in same cable have different degrees of twist. In addition to twisting two insulated copper wires of a pair as needed, pairs in cable should also be twisted counterclockwise. If it is found that twist density of all pairs in a cable is same, this is false in most cases, which is practice of informal manufacturers to simplify production process. Care must be taken to ensure that twist density of two wires in a pair is within specifications. Generally, twist degree of a pair of wires in UTP category 5 is tighter than in category 3, and in category 5 super is tighter than in category 5. The density of false wires is usually very small.
The Fifth Technique
Use scissors to cut off plastic sheath on outside of a small section of wire, remove outer twisted-pair rubber, and expose 4 pairs of strands. You can see that inside is made up of four pairs of strands. wires of different colors (white-orange, orange, white-green, green, white-blue, blue, white-brown, brown). These colors are made from corresponding color plastic, rub it to see if plastic of wire strand is discolored.
The sixth trick
To avoid damage to cable caused by heat or fire, outer jacket of twisted-pair cable must be flame retardant. You can test twisted pair cable under high temperature conditions, at temperatures from 35°C to 40°C, rubber of original network cable will not become soft. Or use a lighter to burn outer sheath. The outer sheath of network cable will gradually melt and deform into a barbequeyu, but it can not be burned.
