Manufacturers design plenum cables with CMP-rated jackets for installation in building plenum spaces. All Ethernet cables, including Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6a, come with CMP-rated jackets.
Before we get into the details, let’s start with a definition of plenum spaces:
Plenum Spaces
Plenum spaces are areas in a building that facilitate air circulation for heating and air conditioning systems. Designers allow conditioned, heated, or return air to flow through plenum spaces at higher atmospheric pressure to achieve this.
Plenum Cables
Plenum cables are those with CMP-rated jackets, as previously stated. The abbreviation for Communication Multipurpose Cable, Plenum is Communication Multipurpose Cable, Plenum. The jacket material received the industry’s highest CMP rating. The highest-quality PVC (polyvinyl chloride) material is used in CMP-marked cables.
Because of the high temperatures in plenum spaces, ethernet cables installed here should have the best jacket material available. The plenum cables are fire-resistant and help to keep a fire from spreading. When exposed to a fire, plenum or CMP-rated cables produce no smoke or hazardous gases.
Plenum cables are also UV-resistant, making them ideal for both residential and commercial applications. The thick coating on the plenum cables also protects against alien crosstalk, near-end crosstalk, and EMI (electromagnetic interference).
The following is a list of plenum cable classifications:
- Cat5e Plenum Cable
- Cat6 Plenum Cable
- Cat6a Plenum Cable
Cat5e Plenum Cable Specifications
Cat5e plenum cable comes with a CMP-rated jacket. It has a data transfer rate of 1Gbps (Gigabits per second) over a distance of 50 meters (164 feet) and 100Mbps over a distance of 100 meters (328 feet). Although the TIA/EIA bandwidth standard is 100MHz, some manufacturers offer Cat5e Plenum cables with bandwidth up to 350MHz.
Cat5e plenum cable comes with both pure copper conductors and CCA (copper-clad aluminum) conductors. In every way, pure copper conductor cables outperform CCA conductor cables in terms of performance.
UTP and STP versions of this cable are also available. UTP stands for unshielded twisted pair, whereas STP stands for shielded twisted pair. STP cables are preferred in environments where strong EMI is present, whereas UTP cables are used in environments where EMI is not a concern. STP cables are much more expensive than UTP cables. Cat5 cable is available in wire gauges ranging from 22AWG to 26AWG (depending on the manufacturer).
Cat6 Plenum Cable Specifications
Cat6 Plenum cable is a Cat6 cable with jackets that are CMP-rated. The jacket’s qualities are the same as those mentioned in the previous sections.
When it comes to data speed, the Cat6 plenum cable provides 10Gbps over 50 meters (164 feet) and 1Gbps over a distance of 100 meters (328 feet). The bandwidth of Cat6 cables is 550MHz, which is sufficient for most applications. In these cables, there are pure copper conductors as well as copper-clad aluminum conductors. Unshielded twisted pairs (UTP) are used in Cat6 plenum cables, while shielded twisted pairs (STP) are used in Cat6 plenum cables. Cat6 cable is available in wire gauges ranging from 22AWG to 26AWG (depending on the manufacturer).
Cat6a Plenum Cable Specifications
Cat6 Plenum cables have a CMP-rated jacket and are Cat6a cables with a CMP-rated jacket. As with the previous two cables, the jacket has a thick coating, is fire resistant, and is UV resistant. In terms of data transfer rates, the Cat6a Plenum cable provides 10Gbps over a distance of 100 meters. The wire’s 750 MHz bandwidth allows it to maintain strong signals over longer distances.
Cat6a cable is available in wire gauges ranging from 22AWG to 26AWG (depending on the manufacturer). Technicians commonly use the cable in high-speed applications such as 100BASE-XT Fast Ethernet, 10BASE-T, 1000BASE-T (IEEE 802.3), 750 MHz broadband video, and various security networking systems.
