I don't normally post about hardware, but I had an e-mail from Bob a while back and think it's worth sharing:
"Started to wonder why Cat6e cable from CPC is like £100 and the “same” stuff of ebay is much cheaper – It’s because the more expensive stuff uses solid copper and the cheaper stuff is known as CCA (Copper clad aluminium)
A bit of googling:
“The use of CCA wire directly contravenes both CAT5e and CAT6 specifications which denote the use of copper conductors. CCA wire is not a copper conductor. Organizations supplying CCA as CAT5e and CAT6 network cables should examine very carefully if they are in compliance with the sales of goods act”
http://www.cetecglobal.com/technologies/cabling/cca.htm
Same goes for patch leads as well, so watch what you order."
So the lesson is not to buy Cat6e cables from Hong Kong or Shanghai for 99p with free postage!
Nice one Dave.
Simples (squeak).