What Is Cat6 Plenum Cable?

Plenum cables are cable types that were designed to be used in the plenum spaces of buildings that typically lie between floors of a building, above a suspended ceiling, or under a raised floor. Plenum spaces are usually in-home air circulations for the different ventilation, cooling, and heating systems in the building. This makes the plenum spaces a huge fire hazard because of the constant oxygen flow in the spaces.

The plenum cables are specially fitted to circumvent this hazard by having their outside jacketed and coated with fire-retardant materials. The fire ratings on plenum cables are thoroughly tested, and the jacket is usually covered with Teflon,  a low-smoke polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or a fluorinated ethylene polymer (FEP)  to prevent burning and injury in case of a fire outbreak.

Cat6 cables meet the strict UL (Underwriters Laboratories) fire protection standard under safety standard UL910. The cat6 cable is designed in a way that it restricts the flame progression to less than five feet, and does not burn or fume like regular plastic does.

Where To Use Cat6 Cables

Cat 6 cables are useful for different Ethernet connections from 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T, to 10BASE-T, which are Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet GbE, 10-Gigabit Ethernet respectively. Of course, you can use any other Ethernet cables for these connections so the primary use for plenum cables is related to plenum spaces, as riser cables and PVC-rated cables cannot be used here.

You should have an expert inspect your space to determine the relevance of use for plenum cables. Also, make sure to reserve spaces in new and upcoming constructions for plenum cables to be fitted through. A cat6a plenum cable is great, as it offers the ultimate connectivity experience because it is fast and suitable for plenum spaces.

Cat6 plenum cables can be good for spaces such as computer rooms and IT centers with raised floors. When using your cables in a space that doesn’t have an EMI, you should go for unshielded twisted pair cables. This makes sure that the risk for interference is low, and the signal quality also remains the same because an extra layer of protection is not needed.

For areas with an EMI, the extra layer of protection is required. For STP Ethernet cables, an outer cover or protection shield to each of the four twisted pairs is needed. Interferences are kept at bay, and the signal strength is not compromised.

How To Shop For A Good Cat6 Plenum Cable

You need to first consider the certification of the company offering the cables. There are many firms that are offering certification in the market today, but the most popular and credible are UL and ETL. The UL standard is the highest certification standard in the market.

The cables should also have 100% pure copper wires so that they perform at the desired specs. Anything other than copper will diminish the quality of the connectivity. Having them mixed with aluminum or any other metal lowers connectivity, making it similar to the cat5e connection rates.