[PLUG-TALK] ... fire resistant ethernet cable? SOLVED!

[Keith Lofstrom]

On Tue, Jan 13, 2026 at 07:53:22PM -0800, Keith Lofstrom wrote:
> Does anyone know (for sure) of a source of fire-resistant
> short Cat5E patch cables?  Alternately, does anyone have a
> one-foot-too-long spool of fire-resistant Cat5E cable, so
> I can make my own short patch cable?  
> 
> Keith L.

I did not find a premade patch cord ... I did find a cheap
but HUGE spool of  "MONOPRICE CAT.6a ... CMR (UL)"  cable,
and made my own patch cord.

Stiff cable, shielded and triple insulated.

As a card-carrying spendthrift wuss, I also used KLEIN TOOLS
pass-thru data plugs, and their VDC226-110 crimper ... and 
only goofed three times, rather than my usual eight times.

Plenty more cable and data plugs.  I can imagine teaching
folks to make fire resistant CAT6A cables at PLUG Clinic ...
but I can't imagine hauling a huge 20 pound spool of black
cable on Trimet.  I'd probably be arrested as a terrorist.

Perhaps I should arrange a picnic and cable-making party in
my east-of-Beaverton back yard this summer.  Trimet 54 and
58 bus lines.  Pseudo Personal Telco wifi.  Outside potty
in decrepit "greenhouse", house still a quarantine zone.

Keith L.

-- 
Keith Lofstrom          keithl at keithl.com