I would question that they are.
If you buy a TV you may go for a “no brand” make as it is cheap, but are its features or build quality as good as a Sony or a Toshiba, probably not, so you may opt to go for the premium brand, you get what you pay for at the end of the day.
Data cabling is no different, “you get what you pay for”. Some people will have you believe that “Cat 5, it’s just a low voltage cable”, it’s a bit more complicated than that.
Category 5e, 6, 6a, 7, 7a are extremely sophisticated, high frequency cables and should be treated as such. The main manufacturers like Nexans, Brand Rex, Tyco etc spend millions of $ developing cabling “systems” that encompass the cable, connector and patch panel. Until these items are all installed together, and tested with proper level III field testers like the Fluke DTX-1800 (they cost about £5.5K) then it is just a pile of components.
The cheap “no brand” cable and components have rarely been tested together as a “system” they are just manufactured to basic specifications on an individual basis. The plastics can be shoddy and things like the dust shutters can jam or break. If you have a problem, even an accidental manufacturing fault, what support will you get from “no make Inc”, I would guess none, you will get support from Nexans, Brand Rex, Tyco etc. “You get what you pay for”!
Ask these questions of your data cable installer – What system brand are you using? How will it be tested? What make of tester will be used? And make sure they specify on any quote what brand they are using and how they intend to test the system.
Good value is great…. When it is good value, I think brand names are good value.
