Manufacturers

L-Com alerts buyers to counterfeit cable trend

Several weeks ago, L-com of North Andover, Mass., which
makes datacom and connectivity products, posted a news release and an article
on the “disturbing trend” of counterfeit cables.

L-com directly references a competitor’s product, saying, “In the case of the Category 5e 24 AWG Ethernet cable that L-com
bought, the cable was actually 26 AWG copper-clad aluminum. The cable also did
not meet the Category 5E specification for electrical performance.”

Above: One of three images included with L-com’s news release.
It purports to show the deficiencies in a competitor’s contact
. According
to L-com, “Gold flash on RJ45 contact has degraded, eroding connectivity.”

In the news
release
, L-com writes, “The article both educates and
alerts cable buyers to the many ways unscrupulous manufacturers and
distributors have flooded the market with sub-standard connectivity equipment.”

The company said “L-com’s post is their first publicly posted alert, though they have been
advising customers about it for years. It comes with detailed information on
the types of counterfeiting that L-com has encountered and the dangers of using
sub-standard cables. It also includes a link to a 14-page
independent report
to qualify the exact characteristics
and problems.”

The 14-page report is said to have been produced by an
independent testing lab.

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