The fire rating of riser cable is not as strict as the plenum cable since plenum cable uses less hazardous and lower smoke materials.
Cat5e riser cable vs plenum.
When should you be using riser cable.
Plenum cables have a higher fire rating and are designed with fire retardant plastic jacket of either a low smoke pvc or a fluorinated ethylene polymer fep.
You can choose between the two cable types according to your actual needs.
Riser rated cables run between floors through cable risers or in elevator shafts in non plenum areas.
Disconnected and not properly repaired and resealed.
Where the plenum cables are installed near the ceilings cmrs are installed near the floors of your building.
Since the demands for riser cables are lower plenum cables are usually used as an.
This means cmr cable will exhibit more smoke than cmp cable.
When should you be using plenum cable.
They are typically used for more basic networks primarily in residential settings but are still found in commercial offices as well.
These cables must also self extinguish and prevent the flame from traveling up the.
Some of these ratings include cl cm cables cmp cables and cmr cables commonly referred to as general purpose residential communications plenum and communications riser respectively.
To sum up both cat6 plenum cables and cat6 riser cables are flame retardant cat6 ethernet cables the former one meets higher requirements in cable jacket material and safety standard resulting in a more expensive price.
There are a few other ratings for communications cable that apply to outdoor environments but that is a topic for a future blog.
Getting back to the basics with plenum vs riser.
Riser cables namely cmr cables are widely used for regular networking from floor to floor in non plenum areas.
Jim gibson explains the differences between cmr riser cable and cmp plenum cable cables and when you should choose plenum vs.
Thus plenum cable can replace riser cable but not the other way around.
And the price of riser cable is less than plenum cable.