1. Stretchability of the outer skin

Considering that network cables often need to be bent during wiring, many regular manufacturers leave a certain amount of stretchability in the outer skin when making network cables to ensure that The network cable is not damaged when bent. Therefore, when everyone pulls the regular network cable with both hands, they find that the outer skin is stretchable. If the outer sheath of the network cable is pulled off by force, or if there are cracks in the outer sheath under the action of external force, it means there is something wrong with the quality of the network cable.

2. Network cable flexibility

Good-quality network cables are designed with the convenience of wiring in mind, and should be as flexible as possible. They are easy to bend no matter how they are bent, and are not easily bent. break. Fold the cable in half to see how durable the outer sheath is. If a good network cable is folded, the outer sheath will not be too obviously white. A bad network cable will be obviously very white. A good network cable will not break easily during construction. At present, in order to obtain high sales profits, many profiteers on the market add other cheap metal components to the originally pure copper quality network cables. In this way, the cost of the network cables will be reduced, but the quality and performance of the network cables themselves will not be the same. Similarly, the phenomenon shown is that the texture of the network cable is no longer so soft, and the transmission speed of the network cable is also greatly reduced. If such a network cable is repeatedly bent during the wiring process, the copper cable inside the network cable may be broken. Of course, if you find that the network cable is too soft, you should also be aware that it may be a fake product. You can also cut the outer skin of the copper core, pinch the copper core in circles with your hands, and see how many circles it will take before it breaks. Generally, good quality will be more than 25 circles.

3. Test the flammability of network cables

Generally speaking, the materials that make up network cables must be resistant to combustion. Otherwise, if there is a fire or something, the losses will be heavy. Therefore, when choosing a network cable, you must check the flammability of the cable's outer sheath to identify the authenticity. During the specific test, you can first use scissors to cut the outer sheath of a network cable about 2 cm long, and then use a lighter to burn the outer sheath. The outer sheath of a genuine network cable will gradually melt and deform under the barbecue of fireworks, but the outer sheath will certainly not change on its own. If it is found that the outer sheath of the network cable cannot withstand the test of fire and burns at a moment's notice, then no matter how high the transmission speed of the network cable is, you should give up the choice. After all, such a network cable is very unsafe in the wiring project. Using it will leave A huge safety hazard. I tested genuine network cables and counterfeit network cables and ignited them with a lighter at the same time. I found that after 6 seconds, the genuine network cables only emitted white smoke and gradually melted and deformed over time, while the fake network cables were easily ignited in less than 2 seconds. , and a large amount of black smoke was produced.

4. Test the temperature resistance of the network cable

In the wiring project, there are very high requirements for the network cable to resist changes in external temperature. Not to mention that it can resist any environmental changes, at least the network cable cannot Be softened or cracked by freezing in high or low temperature environments. In order to ensure that the performance of the network cable is not affected in high-temperature environments, the outer material used in genuine network cables can withstand high temperatures up to about 50 degrees, and will not cause the network cable to be softened or deformed. If you cut off a small piece of the network cable sheath and place it next to the stove for a while, and you find that the sheath is softer than the normal sheath, it means that the quality of the network cable is definitely not too hard.

5. Identify the marks on the outer skin of the network cable

When actually selecting a network cable, sometimes there is a lack of testing environment or conditions, and the quality or materials of the network cable cannot be tested by the above method. At this time, you may wish to identify the authenticity of the network cable by observing the logo on the outer skin of the network cable. Under normal circumstances, the network cable of a regular brand has the type mark of the network cable and the manufacturer's trademark on the outer sheath. For example, the CAT5 mark means that the network cable is a Category 5 line, and the CAT6 mark means that the network cable is a Category 6 line; if there is no mark on the outer cover of the network cable, If not, everyone should be more vigilant and find ways to create conditions to test and identify network cables according to the above methods.

Comments: The standard for Category 3 lines is "CAT3", with a bandwidth of 10M, and is suitable for 10M networks, which has been basically eliminated; the standard for Category 5 lines is "CAT5", with a bandwidth of 100M, and is suitable for 100M networks. The following networks; the standard for Category 5e cables is "CAT5E", with a bandwidth of 155M; the standard for Category 6 cables is "CAT6", with a bandwidth of 250M, and is used for Gigabit networks. Generally, Category 5 is sufficient. To be honest, even if the quality of current network cables is really good, Category 6 cannot transmit the distance as far as in the past.