Cat 5 cable question

[Meegan]

I still need another cat 5 cable. Do you guys recommend getting only the LOR store CAT5? I tend to balk when the shipping is more than the actual item costs. Is it ok to purchase one from a best buy type store or equivalent locally? What are the specs or guidelines to follow when getting a CAT 5 cable? Is data transmission speed the deciding factor? Thanks in advance everyone

[packen]

I get mine from eBay. Haven't had any trouble with them yet.

[saxon]

http://www.monoprice.com/search/index/?category_1=Networking&keyword=cat5

[ebrown1972]

I get mine from both ebay and monoprice. Also monoprice has the best price on zip ties too.

[EmmienLightFan]

Any properly wired Cat5 cable will work.

 

 

A normal cat5 cable will work, so you can get one from Best Buy. The internet has thousands of places to buy them from, and you can also cat the cable and the RJ45 ends and make them up yourself. It is cheaper and easier than you would think with the right tools.

[mpageler]

For the most part..cat5 cable is cat5 cable.  No reason to overpay for it.

I buy from ebay and have some extra on hand if one gets damaged.

[Darryl Lambert]

For the most part I make my own but have bought from monoprice & even the dollarstore.

[jstorms]

CAT5 is CAT5, I've bought some from eBay, for long/custom runs I buy a spool then stick the ends on them.

[Meegan]

So I shouldn't be too concerned with data transfer rates? Say 100mhz (bestbuy, office max) vs 350mhz (LOR cable)? Sorry for the silly question but data speeds and system requirements are a little outside my Wheelhouse.

[k6ccc]

I stock several colors of Cat-5e and Cat-6 cable that I generally get from Monoprice.com in 1,000 foot boxes and then cut to length and install connectors.

[Darryl Lambert]

So I shouldn't be too concerned with data transfer rates? Say 100mhz (bestbuy, office max) vs 350mhz (LOR cable)?

 

I've never worried about it. Heck most of my cables I've never even checked. I'm running quite a few pixels & have'nt had any issues related to transfer rates that I've seen.

[jstorms]

Advertised data transfer rates on cat5? Do they sell monster versions of cat5 now?

[k6ccc]

So I shouldn't be too concerned with data transfer rates? Say 100mhz (bestbuy, office max) vs 350mhz (LOR cable)? Sorry for the silly question but data speeds and system requirements are a little outside my Wheelhouse.

 

Considering that LOR at it's highest runs at 1 megabit, no it does not matter.

[lightzilla]

At one point I got cat 6 cable cheaper than cat 5. .....so I used it as well.  No issues. I have used Dollar store cat 5 cable.......except that in extreme cold weather (like we get up here in the Western part of the Great White) it can crack. Then we have this place here called Princess Auto & I can get cat 5 cable from there.  However, one of my favorite places  to buy cat 5 cable it a second hand store at cheap prices. 

 

I get like new Christmas Cds from the second hand store as well. I look for cds with the great radio Christmas hits.....$2 for a cd with good Christmas music is pretty good.