We Tested Cat6A Shielded Patch Cables: Here’s What We Found

Written by Don Schultz, Senior Technical Marketing Specialist, Fluke Networks Certified Copper/Fiber CCTT, BICSI TECH, INSTC, INSTF Certified

This blog is a continuation of trueCABLE’s mass market Ethernet patch cord testing, where we seek additional data to confirm industry data indicating 75% or more of imported patch cables are hands-down counterfeit. These poor quality patch cables do not perform to the Category printed on the cable jacket and some are worse than others--to the point of causing channel failures. Does this 75% failure rate apply to mass market Cat6A shielded patch cables too? Let’s find out!

Why Shielded Cat6A Patch Cords Are Harder to Get Right

Shielded patch cables, especially Cat6A ones, are difficult to produce with the level of precision necessary to meet all of the Cat6A patch cord performance requirements. Here are just some of those requirements:

• Reliable and consistent 500 MHz operation
• Return Loss and crosstalk (NEXT) within TIA 568.2-E Cat6A patch cord parameters, and those parameters are tight
• Durability at the terminations and the ability to withstand 5,000 flexes without failure and still pass Cat6A patch cord testing
• A functioning cable shield, measured for resistance

Cat6A shielded patch cables are considered a miniature installation in their own right, due to terminations at both ends. Therefore the TIA standard has special testing they must pass in order to not cause or contribute to a failure in a shielded Cat6A channel. If you are wondering what a “channel” is, please see Calculating Ethernet Cable Overall Channel Length for Success.

A channel is only as good as its weakest component--in this case patch cords. Take a look at How to Test Patch Cords and Fiber Jumper Cables - The Weakest Links written by Fluke Networks.

How We Tested

Here is the test lineup. A number of patch cords will be put to the test, including trueCABLE’s Cat6A Shielded Patch Cord. All competitor patch cords were blind purchased from an online mass market retailer. The patch cords are all three feet long.

The test instrument is a Certification device called a Fluke DSX-8000, but with an important addition. The important addition is Cat6A patch cord adapters (called PCA), specifically for patch cord testing to TIA Cat6A patch cord performance metrics.

Make note of this, as it is important when you are selecting a patch cord manufacturer and/or looking at certification tests.

The test metrics used are:

• TIA Patch Cord Cat6A 1.0m testing is used since we wish to test to Cat6A component level metrics for Cat6A patch cords and the patch cords are three feet long
• Cat6A U/FTP is the selected cable type, and this matters because it triggers a shield continuity test
• T568B wiremap (not strictly relevant for factory patch cords)
• Note that the tester will not permit channel adapters to be used for this type of test, and for good reason

Why component level testing and not wiremap or channel? Check out: Ethernet Cable Testing Explained: Verification, Qualification, & Certification and Ethernet Quality: Channel Level vs Component Level Rating.

The Results

Competitor A - Cat6A

Poor terminations caused this failure with -6.6 dB on crosstalk (NEXT) and -1.5 dB on Return Loss. This patch cord will almost certainly cause issues in the channel, even with a good patch cord on the opposite side with a Certified permanent link in the middle.

Competitor B - Cat6A

Poor terminations caused this failure with Marginal Pass of 1.1 dB on crosstalk (NEXT) and -0.7 dB on Return Loss. This patch cord might cause issues in the channel, especially with a similarly poor patch cord on the opposite side and/or a Certified permanent link in the middle with poor headroom to start with (passing link, but on the edge). Note that a Marginal Pass is typically considered to be a FAIL.

Competitor C - Cat6A

This failure resulted from a bad termination where the conductors were not making connector to connector contact, resulting in a “Bad wire map”. This patch cord will cause an outright failure in any scenario, even if the patch cord is the only cable in the entire channel. It simply won’t work, at all.

Competitor D - Cat8

So much for Cat8! Again, poor terminations caused this failure with -0.1 dB on crosstalk (NEXT) and -0.2 dB on Return Loss. This is egregious, considering we are performing Cat6A patch cord testing.

Competitor E - Cat8

As you may have guessed, poor terminations caused this failure with -1.7 dB on crosstalk (NEXT). Return Loss passed, barely. Again, this is outrageous. We are performing Cat6A patch cord testing -- not Cat8 -- which should be easy for this patch cable.

Each and every one of these competitor patch cords is counterfeit. Not a single one performs to the Category stated on the cable. We have a 100% failure rate here! What’s worse? Some of these cords are pricey.

trueCABLE - Cat6A

Well, finally. We have a full PASS. The trueCABLE brand Cat6A shielded patch cable performs precisely as it should, with good headroom to spare. No fancy 8P8C covers, colored tabs, braiding, or useless instruction sheet inserts. No false promises.

Let’s summarize:

Table 1: Component Test Results

GREEN = Pass
RED = Hard failure
ORANGE = Marginal pass (still considered a FAIL)

NEXT = Near End Cross-talk (often referred to as “headroom”)
RL = Return Loss (A measure of all reflections that are caused by the impedance mismatches from patch cord end to end. Common cause is poor terminations.)

Table 2: Shielded Patch Cord Spec Checklist

What a Failing Patch Cord Does to Your Network

Quite simply, a single failing patch cord could cause a great deal of packet errors, down time, and even ruined PoE devices. I had a very bad time with a single no-name patch cord plugged into the remote outlet of a permanent link. That permanent link was Certified and the head-end (patch panel side) was using a component rated patch cord! All it took was for one counterfeit patch cord to cause havoc. For more on that one, take a look at We Tested The Top Rated Patch Cables in 2025 - Here’s What We Found. In that blog, we tested mass market Cat6 unshielded patch cords against ours.

How to Spot a Good Shielded Patch Cord

Remember earlier when I specifically pointed out the PCA adapters used for this type of testing? Here is the type of adapters you do NOT want to see used for patch cord testing:

The yellow indicates these are channel adapters. These adapters are only to be used for setting the tester reference or for measuring an entire channel for performance. Channels typically include two patch cords and a permanent link, and as a result channel test metrics are loosened up to account for up to six (6) terminations and disparate conductor gauges. Patch cords have only TWO terminations and one cable, so channel testing would be too permissive.

It is inappropriate (and dishonest) to channel test patch cords. A false impression of performance will result.

Avoid patch cords labeled as:

• Channel level
• Channel tested
• Verified
• Generically stating “Tested”

Pick patch cords labeled as:

• Component Rated
• Component Level
• 100% Certified
• …preferably all three above at the same time!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is shielded cable used for?

Shielded cable is used when sufficient distance cannot be maintained from EMI/RFI sources that would otherwise disrupt communications and result in bad Ethernet packets. This may occur with external EMI sources or even from other cables in the same bundle, known as ANEXT or alien cross-talk. ANEXT typically becomes an issue at 10Gbps application speeds but may occur at lower speeds like 2.5Gbps and 5Gbps when the cables are bundled together. A good example is at the patch panel to switch connections (head end), especially when a patch cord manager is used -- like in a rack.

What are the disadvantages of shielded cable?

Permanently installed shielded cable must be bonded to ground to function properly, greatly increasing installation complexity. Improperly installed permanent shielded cable can result in creating problems, not solve them. Additional installation issues are significantly reduced flexibility, inability to take tight turns, and shielded cable (especially shielded termination hardware) costs significantly more than unshielded components. That said, much more flexible shielded patch cords are of great benefit to prevent ANEXT at the patch panel to switch connection, even when the permanent in-wall cable is unshielded.

Is Cat6A overkill for home use?

No, not any longer. For some years now TIA has recommended Cat6A for all new installations, even residential. With increasing ISP Internet speeds and pro-sumer LAN equipment such as NAS devices becoming increasingly common, bandwidth requirements are rising, not falling.

Is Cat7 or Cat8 better than Cat6A?

Not in a practical sense. Cat7 and Cat8 are designed for up to 40Gbps at very short distances, often seen in niche use cases like data centers. After those short distances, Cat7 and Cat8 operate just like Cat6A. It can be easily argued that LANs requiring speeds faster than 10Gbps should be designed with fiber optical cable from the start. See Why Cat8 Is Likely a Waste of Your Money for more. It should also be noted that a poorly designed Cat7 or Cat8 patch cable is easily outperformed by even a Cat6 patch cord! See We Tested The Top Rated Patch Cables in 2025 - Here’s What We Found for more information.

What are the different types of patch cables?

Technically, Ethernet patch cables come in every Category and with various types of shielding. In addition, patch cords may have different fire ratings (or no fire rating at all). The common denominator for patch cords is they all have 8P8C (aka RJ45) connectors at both ends and have four color coded conductor pairs consisting of eight wires for data and/or PoE power.

From a more practical perspective, it is safe to say patch cables come in just two flavors…good and bad. A lowly 100% certified and component rated Cat5e patch cord will massively outperform a poor quality Cat6A patch cord, for example.

Conclusion

There you have it! Based upon current and previous sample testing, the vast majority of mass-market patch cords are counterfeit, not meeting the Category stated on the cable jacket. Patch cords are a critical component to a LAN, and one bad one will ruin your day. If you want to avoid this issue, while also avoiding spending a large amount of money on a test device (and the follow-on incidental costs that go with it) then it makes sense to purchase a patch cord with a pedigree!

HAPPY NETWORKING!

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