Reliable, Established Technology -- Cat 3 Cable Still Has Many Applications
If you had a computer network back in the early 1990s, chances are you are familiar with category 3 cable. This cable, commonly called cat 3 cable, was widely used then but has subsequently fallen out of favor due to the introduction of cat 5 cable in recent decades.
Is cat 3 cable still used at all? Yes it is -- especially in older computer systems and 2-line telephone systems. Actually it can be used on any data network that makes use of frequencies up to 16 MHz. You will find it used on 10 Mb per second Ethernet networks as well.
For example, you can purchase Genesis 3 cable -- 1000 feet will cost you $90.80 -- this is 2-pair cat 3 cable which can be used for telephone and low-speed data transmission as well. This brand of cat 3 cable is manufactured from 24 AWG solid copper, is sunlight resistant and is sold in a tangle-free box for easy dispensing.
Another product is sold by Coleman. Their cat 3 cable is also sold in rolls of 1000 feet, and has an outer covering made of PVC. This cat 3 cable is suitable for use in all residential/office telephone systems. Another cat 3 cable product comes to us from Superior Essex. It, too, is 24-gauge, 3-pair, unshielded cat 3 cable -- 1000 foot roll will set you back $139. Each length of this cat 3 cable is marked foot by foot, for easy and quick measuring. It is manufactured from solid annealed bare copper wire, and is jacketed in low-smoke PVC. >From Belden comes their 4-pair, low-smoke cat 3 cable. A 1000 foot roll is around $200 at the present time. This cat 3 cable is marked off in 2-foot increments for quick measurement. It is designed to operate in a temperature range of -20°C -- 75°C. This cat 3 cable has a maximum pulling tension of up to 25 pounds, with a minimum bending radius of 2 inches. Another manufacturer of cat 3 cable is Mohawk. This company manufactures a combination cat 3 and 5e cable. This cable will allow you to wire an up-to-date computer network (using the cat 5e line) as well as your telephone system (using the cat 3 line) at the same time! Finally, for very large installations -- particularly large commercial networks -- when you need to purchase cable in bulk, you might want to check out cat 3 cable manufactured by CommScope. This is 4-pair/Plenum-rated cable -- and the minimum length is 36,000 feet! This cat 3 cable can be used in any 10 Mb/s Ethernet, a 4/16 Mb/s token ring as well as ISDN voice networks. According to the company, this cat 3 cable has a very flexible outer jacket with a record that strips cleanly resists kinking. This cat 3 cable also features co-extruded color stripe pairs for easy identification when attaching connectors.
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