Sometimes speed is simply of the essence: If a cable has been damaged or fails due to age, production stops and this can result in considerable loss of earnings. So it is great when the new cable can be connected in just a few steps – like the new ETHERLINE® PN CAT.6A Fast Connect, shown by LAPP at the 2018 Hannover Messe. It is easier and faster to harness and install than conventional cables. For this purpose, the cable has a plastic intersection inside it which separates the four core pairs as well as a mutual shielding in the form of an inner sheath. As a result, the four core pairs do not have to be shielded and the fitter does not have to remove a foil shield from each of the four core pairs. LAPP supplies the tools required to harness the Fast Connect cable. It additionally reduces the time required by preparing the cable for plug harnessing in advance in one step. The new shielding also ensures a long service life.

Despite its simpler harnessing, LAPP’s ETHERLINE® PN CAT.6A Fast Connect doesn’t lower its guard when it comes to transmission speed. The new high-speed cable achieves 10 gigabit per second, the current maximum transmission speed for copper cables in industrial environments. It is the top choice wherever large quantities of data have to be transmitted, as is the case in industry due to Industry 4.0 and increasing digitization. The cable complies with the PROFINET standard and is compatible with all PROFINET cables by LAPP and other manufacturers. It is also approved for the North American market (UL certified). Accordingly, it is ideally suited for export-based customers in mechanical, plant and apparatus engineering who do not want to have to worry about the approval for different continents.

The ETHERLINE® PN Cat.6A Fast Connect is available in seven versions: three for fixed installation (Type A) with PVC sheath (flame retardant), with FRNC sheath (halogen-free and flame retardant) or with PUR sheath (halogen-free, flame retardant and with increased mechanical strength). Two variants are suitable for flexible installation (Type B) with a flame-retardant PVC sheath or with a halogen-free and flame-retardant FRNC sheath. There are also two variants for highly-flexible use (Type C) with PVC sheath or PUR sheath. LAPP also offers four additional versions with reduced dimensions for use in tight applications. The different sheath versions and diameters cover almost every area of application.