Research by the US based Communications Cable and Connectivity Association shows that many offshore-manufactured cable products could present a significant fire risk.
The study saw the firm randomly selecting cable samples manufactured outside the US and testing them to see if they conform to health and safety standards.
Of the nine wires tested, all of them failed to meet key safety criteria and many fell short in the company's flame spread and smoke tests catastrophically.
The research showed that the cables also failed to meet cat5e and cat6 specifications.
A spokesperson for the firm said: "These test results strongly imply that these cable products, manufactured in China or Taiwan, were made with inferior materials and methods to save on production costs."
In related news, computers linked together with cat6 cabling can transfer data very quickly if they are gigabit capable but if not cat6 wires are backward compatible and offer a good alternative to wireless networking. 
Last Updated: 30/10/2008 16:24
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