Whats the difference between stranded and solid cabling?
Q. I just found your web site and i thought that it was very informative, but i could not find any thing on the difference between stranded and solid cabling, could you tell me what the difference between them is? (I think stranded is used as patch leads and solid is used as a connector between the patch panel and the wall outlet).
A. You are correct, stranded cable is used for patch leads because it is more flexible than solid copper. The solid cable is used in the fixed part of the installation, ie. the cable between the patch cabinet and the wall outlets. Solid cable has better performance characteristics than stranded and it is cheaper to make.
Q. Thank you for your help, it was very useful. One other thing you could help me with, is the way that the solid and stranded cable are wired up different? because i know that you can get RJ45 plugs for solid and stranded cable (i know how to wire up stranded cable to a RJ45 plug), if so then how is the solid cable wired up to the RJ45 plug.
A. The colour codes are the same for solid and stranded cables, the difference is in the IDC (insulation displacement connector) in the RJ45 plug. Because the cores are different the contacts have to be slightly different to ensure a good contact is made.
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