5044 B U Bowman Dr #102  :::  Buford, Georgia  30518

e-mail stedipower@tvss.net   :::  Phone: 678.546.6780

Important Information about Cat5e Installations for surge arresters and suppressors:

Many manufacturers will try to pass on their version of a Category 5/5e protection product when they are not meeting the proper standards or the application’s needs. In a campus environment, the NEC requires that you protect any conductive path entering or leaving a building (Article 800). This protector must be agency listed (i.e. UL 497). Often times, this protector will be advertised as Category 5/5e, but there are three key features that are needed for a campus environment – primary (UL 497), solid-state, and certified Category 5/5e. Many manufacturers will provide a Category 5/5e product, but not for the application you are looking for.

UL Listings
The greatest misconception is most likely the UL standard for different applications. People believe that just because something has a UL mark on it, it must be safe to use the product. Different UL Listings mean different thing s for good reasons – safety. The highest UL Listing for surge protection products is UL 497. This can easily be confused with UL 497A and UL 497B. Although the Listings look similar, the testing procedures for each are extremely different. Here is a quick look at the differences:

UL 497—Primary Protection: The Primary Protector is used at Building Entrances and is capable of withstanding the highest level of over-voltage surges—lightning. These devices are required by NEC Article 800 to protect buildings and humans.

UL 497A—Secondary Protection: The Secondary Protector is located between  the building entrance/primary protector and the equipment intended to be protected. These protectors are intended to protect buildings, humans and sensitive electronic equipment. The TIA/EIA 568 standard does not allow fuses and PTC’s to enable secondary protection due to the 100 ohm impedance mismatching.

UL 497B—Isolated Loop Protection: Isolated Loop Protectors are designed to handle over-voltage events which are introduced within a building. The protected “loop” must not be exposed to the outside world. These protectors are not designed to protect against lightning type surges but are for low voltage protection instead.

Specifications
The last aspect that needs to be considered is the way in which products can be marketed in order to pass for you application. Many manufacturers test their product in-house and do not use third party testing. By doing this, you are taking their word that it passes for Category 5/5e – and often they don’t even meet what they claim. The other way of going around the standards is using the patch cord standards. Here are some of the ways in which a vendor can try to get around the standards you are looking for:

Category 5/5e: Many manufacturers will advertise that they meet Category 5/5e, but unfortunately, this is not alw ays true. In order to ensure the proper performance, ask for third party certification/verification (e.g. UL, Anixter, Nordex). This is the safest and easiest way to ensure that you meet the performance you are looking for.

Protector: 
The protector should meet requirements for Category 5e Connecting Hardware shown in the table below. The main tests include Near End Cross Talk (NEXT), Return Loss (RL), and Insertion Loss (or Attenuation).

Frequency (MHz)	Insertion Loss (dB)	NEXT (dB)	Return Loss (dB)
1.0	0.1	65.0	30.0
4.0	0.1	65.0	30.0
8.0	0.1	64.9	30.0
10.0	0.1	63.0	30.0
20.0	0.2	57.0	30.0
25.0	0.2	55.0	30.0
31.25	0.2	53.1	30.0
62.50	0.3	47.1	24.1
100.5	0.4	43.0	20.0

Patch Cord:
If a protector is classified as a protected patch cord, beware. Patch cords meet different performance standards shown below. The attenuation per 100 meters is +20% of the horizontal UTP
cable attenuation due to the stranded conductors. Many manufacturers will classify their protector under protected patch cords in order to meet the Category 5e performance. 

Frequency (MHz)	2m Cord NEXT (dB)	5m Cord NEXT (dB)	10m Cord NEXT (dB)	Return Loss (dB)
1.0	65.0	65.0	65.0	19.9
4.0	62.3	61.5	60.4	21.6
8.0	56.4	55.6	54.7	22.5
10.0	54.5	53.7	52.8	22.8
16.0	50.4	49.8	48.9	23.4
20.0	48.6	47.9	47.1	23.7
25.0	46.7	46.0	45.3	24.0
31.25	44.8	44.2	43.6	23.0
62.5	39.0	38.5	38.1	20.0
100.0	35.1	34.8	34.6	18.0

There are many ways to get past the standards for Cat5/5e and these are only a few examples that have been used by other manufacturers. When specifying or buying Cat5/5e products, have the manufacturer or installer verify the performance (as applicable to your installation) so that you can be assured you are getting a true Cat5/5e product.

Stedi-Power, Inc
5044 B U Bowman Drive #102
Buford, Georgia 30518
PHONE: (678) 546-6780

Last Updated: 07 Jun 2004
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