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We were one of the early adopters on tough cable. Most of it had to come out of service due to splitting and taking on water. UB replaced it all with their new cable and we've been buying the new cable although we're seeing some of the same issues with the newer stuff. Not as much but a bit. It's enough to be a general concern. We do not want to go through another cable swap out!!!

Any suggestions on a cable to use that does not exhibit the splitting, chaffing, general fall apart syndrome problems?

Thanks!

Bill
Grand Valley Telecom, Inc

We've been using Primus Outdoor Cat5e for several years and I've been very happy with it. We've never had a water or fall apart issue. The only cable issues we've had was due to cable damage, but nothing due to cable manufacturing.

http://www.balticnetworks.com/outdoor-c ... cable.html

We particularly like the inner jacket vs the inner wrap of ubiquiti's cable.

We will be coming out with cable this coming year.

We are starting with 2 outdoor flavors, one for normal outdoor customer radio installs and one for tower installs.

Both are CAT5e not CAT6

We are also considering if we should sell indoor cable as well?

Non UV rated and offer in a range of colors.

Do not think indoor need ESD drain wire or foil wrap?

Maybe offer a CAT6 for indoor as well?

I'd be interested in Outdoor cable, I'd support you guys of you had a comparable product.

No interest in indoor cable personally, I run a lot of cable outside of wISP service and an 'off' brand will hurt bids. It's also a fairly saturated market with everything from the el-cheapo homedepot/lowes/menards type brands up to a dozen 'good' ones.

sirhc wrote:UV rated and offer in a range of colors...

Obviously taken out of context.

My thoughts... How often is an indoor cable run exposed any great distance where the colour would make much difference? SKU'ing up a bunch of colours and then having a selection of colours on the truck... meh.

Outdoor runs probably would be more exposed and some homeowners may object to your basic black as the only choice. I heard that Home Depot offers outdoor in a choice of colours but then I'm a long way from a HD store.

lligetfa wrote:but then I'm a long way from a HD store.

Les you live a long way from anything!
Shipping you that switch I almost had to hire a bush pilot and 2 dog sled teams!

And talk about an expensive next day shipping that took a week and then you had to drive and go get it?

lligetfa wrote:

sirhc wrote:UV rated and offer in a range of colors...

Obviously taken out of context.

My thoughts... How often is an indoor cable run exposed any great distance where the colour would make much difference? SKU'ing up a bunch of colours and then having a selection of colours on the truck... meh.

Outdoor runs probably would be more exposed and some homeowners may object to your basic black as the only choice. I heard that Home Depot offers outdoor in a choice of colours but then I'm a long way from a HD store.

Home Depot doesn't offer colored cable, I've been in what feels like every HD in the country and have never seen anything but blue and gray.

As far as indoor cable colors, they are exposed extremely frequently. The new trend in industrial design takes away all the hiding spots. I try to match cable color to the paint of the exposed trusses or walls whenever possible. Also, remodel work in old buildings where budget comes into play and raceway or conduit is out of the budget. Other local cable shops just do the basic blue and gray, I've won bids because I know I can order cable in various colors.

rebelwireless wrote:Home Depot doesn't offer colored cable, I've been in what feels like every HD in the country and have never seen anything but blue and gray...

I had the feeling I was lied to. Someone posted a pic of an outdoor install on UBNT and they were called out for using indoor cable. The OP said it was outdoor rated from HD probably just to divert the transgression.

Around here WISPs will only run cable to a demarc, usually to a wiring closet or where the service entrance is. From there it is the homeowner's responsibility how they want the house wired and by whom. I suppose some WISPs might do that as a sideline but not as a basic install package.

Here they won't even try to hide the wire outside and the last two WISPs that sold me service, I just had them drop off a spool of wire and I did all the work to fish it through.

And Chris, dogsled may have been quicker.

I was actually just thinking about this today and ask who other people use. We just replaced a bunch of the old tough cable that was crap over the course of the last two years. We ran all with the "new and improved" version and we are still seeing the cracking in the carrier grade cable. Strangely enough the basic version of the tough cable is doing just fine.

We've used some GenSPEED 5000 that came in different colors. it's outdoor rated, but lacks shielding. I'm not sure what all colors it came in but we had Gray, White, Ivory, and a brown. There were quite a few customers who were much happier with our cable runs then the satellite TV guys.

I finally had to forbid the use of it, the lack of shielding killed far to many radios.

I'd certainly be interested in your cable product. It would be nice to have properly shield cable in a few colors. Whtie, off white or ivory, and perhaps a brown. Mostly the colors that would blend it well with the outside of homes.

I briefly looked for quality, colored, outdoor cable but found none. I think it has a lot to do with how do you make a colored jacket that is UV stabilized.