What is U/FTP?
A little info about this shielded structure
There’s numerous shielded types in the world of networking/ethernet cables. From partially shielded to completely shielded you’ll encounter these variations as you cycle through category cables. One of these types you’ll often see is a structure called U/FTP. Let’s get into just what is u/ftp?
U/FTP Explained
U/FTP first and foremost is a type of shielded cable that is created to protect your ethernet cable from EMI (Electro magnetic interference). EMI on your cable can cause things like drop in signals or lesser than expected signal strength. It’s important to understand the environment you are installing your cable in before choosing your cable. If the area is heavy with EMI transmitters then you’re going to want to use a shielded cable. When looking for a shielded cable you might come across a cable that is U/FTP such as this Cat6A stranded cable. U/FTP stands for unshielded with foil around each twisted pair. This means that instead of having an overall foil layer around all 4 twisted pairs this shielding is wrapped around each pair individually. A common use for this type of shielding structure is in stranded cable as you can see in the link above.
Stranded cable is a type of cable where the cable is more flexible and able to fit in tight areas such as between servers and racks. It’s great for creating custom patch cables and shorter runs.
U/FTP because it has the shielding around each individual pairs gives the cable a little more flexibility than if the foil was rapped around all the pairs together as you will probably see in a shielded solid cable.
Now that we now a little bit more about this type lets get into a list of its benefits.
U/FTP Benefits
The shielding helps protect for signal interference or EMI
Is more flexible
Used often in stranded cable for path cables
Conclusion
Hope this information helps. Each types of cable has its own function and U/FTP is good at adding flexibility and shielding to your cable.
