UL Solutions recently issued a warning about the communications cable pictured on this page, stating that even though the cable is marked for use in plenum spaces, it “does not comply with UL Solutions’ Safety Standards for the application” and saying the cable may pose a fire hazard. UL Solutions recommends the product be removed from service.
The cable doesn’t even carry a brand name, and is identified generically as “High-Performance Network Cable Category 6 Plenum 550 MHZ 1000 FT.”
Despite not meeting UL’s safety specifications, the cable’s box carries a gold holographic UL label. These holographic labels include alphanumeric codes to identify cable batches. UL Solutions stated that affected units of this cable brand have numbers ranging from Y96199575 to Y96199616.
The following is printed on the cable’s jacket: E362025 UTP CAT6 BC 4 PAIRS 23 AWG 550 MHZ UL PLENUM CMPTIA EIA -568C ROHS COMPLIANT
The noncompliant cables were found for sale on the website a1securitycameras.com.
All photos on this page came from UL Solutions’ public notice about this cable.
UL has required communications cable providers to include holographic labels on their boxes since 2010, in an effort to combat counterfeiting.
About the Author
Patrick McLaughlin
Chief Editor
Patrick McLaughlin, chief editor of Cabling Installation & Maintenance, has covered the cabling industry for more than 20 years. He has authored hundreds of articles on technical and business topics related to the specification, design, installation, and management of information communications technology systems. McLaughlin has presented at live in-person and online events, and he has spearheaded cablinginstall.com's webcast seminar programs for 15 years.