Introduction
There are growing concerns in the network equipment industry about the significant amount of multi-conductor communications cables containing copper coated aluminum (CCA), copper coated steel and other non-standard conductors masquerading as Category 5e or even Category 6 cables.
The existence of these non-standards compliant, and often counterfeit, cabling products in the market can present serious problems for the companies using them, as well as the cabling installers and engineers who place these products within their customers’ network environments.
While these products might look like standard cable and appear to perform like them in some situations, there are significant differences that could present network problems and safety hazards.
The presence of counterfeit cabling is not a new problem for the industry; fake or non-standard cable products have existed in the market for several years, according to experts. It has been a persistent issue for the industry that does not seem to be going away. Part of the reason for this is many companies are looking for inexpensive networking solutions, and these cable products tend to be less costly.
Existing methods for identifying these non-standard products have only been partially successful. In order for the industry to effectively address the concerns of CCA and other non-standard cable products, new methods are needed.
Testing solutions from Fluke Networks show promise in accurately identifying such products. While these solutions can not immediately identify counterfeit cable products with the push of a button, Fluke Networks is determined to develop capabilities to make it easier for organizations to identify these less-than-standards compliant products.
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