Panduit UTP28X100GR Cat6A 28AWG 100ft Patch Cord

Panduit UTP28X100GR Cat6A 28AWG UTP Patch Cord

The Panduit TX6A-28™ UTP28X100GR is a 100-foot Cat6A patch cord engineered for high-density data center and enterprise network deployments where cable congestion and airflow are critical concerns. Its 28AWG solid-conductor construction reduces bundle diameter by ~40% compared to standard 24AWG patch cords, enabling tighter bend radii in crowded equipment racks and improved cooling efficiency behind switches and patch panels. The Green jacket color simplifies visual circuit tracing in multi-VLAN or segmented network architectures, while the 0.185-inch (4.7mm) overall diameter allows you to fit significantly more runs through cable managers, overhead trays, and horizontal pathways without exceeding fill ratios or creating airflow blockages that trigger thermal shutdowns in blade servers and high-density switches.

Key Features

• 28AWG solid copper conductors — 0.185" diameter enables 60% more cables per conduit vs. 24AWG equivalents
• Full Cat6A performance — factory-tested to 500MHz, supports 10GBASE-T at 100 meters
• Patented tangle-free latch design — eliminates snags during MACs, prevents accidental disconnects in tight spaces
• RapidID pre-installed barcodes — instant port mapping with Panduit RapidID software, no manual labeling
• CM/LSZH dual-rated jacket — meets NEC CM plenum alternative requirements plus low-smoke zero-halogen specs for sensitive environments
• 100% performance tested — every cord verified for wire map, NEXT, and return loss before shipment
• PoE++ compliant — supports IEEE 802.3bt Type 4 (90W) in 24-cable bundles, 802.3af/at in 48-cable bundles
• Centered de-embedded plug with integral pair manager — maintains pair geometry through the termination for consistent alien crosstalk performance

Panduit's TX6A-28 platform addresses the thermal and space challenges that arise when you're aggregating 10GbE uplinks in spine-leaf topologies, consolidating storage I/O to converged Ethernet fabrics, or backplaning virtualized hosts with multiple 10G NICs. The 28AWG gauge trades ampacity for density — this cord is rated for PoE++ Type 4 (90W) in bundles up to 24 cables, and standard PoE/PoE+ (30W) in bundles up to 48 cables, covering the vast majority of access-layer switch ports, IP cameras, WAPs, and VoIP phones without requiring oversized wire. Each cord ships with a centered modular plug that includes Panduit's integral pair manager, a molded feature that locks the four twisted pairs in their correct positions all the way to the contact blades; this eliminates the pair untwist and skew that cause alien crosstalk failures in cheaper patch cords, especially when you're running 40+ cables side-by-side in a vertical manager. The result is consistent insertion loss and return loss across the full 1–500MHz spectrum, verified by Panduit's end-of-line test that checks wire map, NEXT, and return loss on every single cord before it leaves the factory.

The patented tangle-free latch is a spring-loaded tab that sits flush with the plug body when not in use, so you can pull a bundle of 20 cords through a 2-inch cable manager without any of them catching on each other or on adjacent patch cords; when you need to unplug, a light squeeze releases the latch and the plug slides out cleanly, even in zero-clearance scenarios like stacked 1U switches or back-to-back patch panels. RapidID barcoding takes this a step further by embedding a machine-readable label directly into the cord's overmold; scan the barcode with the Panduit RapidID mobile app (iOS/Android) or USB scanner, and the software auto-populates your port documentation with location, MAC address, VLAN assignment, and circuit ID, eliminating the manual spreadsheet updates and hand-written label maker tags that cause 70% of MAC errors during cutovers. The 100-foot length is purpose-built for intra-row and cross-aisle runs in data centers — long enough to reach from an end-of-row switch to a server cabinet 12 racks away, but short enough to avoid the coiling and cable spaghetti that occurs when installers over-provision with 150-foot or 200-foot cords and stuff the slack behind equipment.

The CM/LSZH jacket is dual-rated under UL 1863 (Communications Cable) and meets the IEC 60332-3 flame propagation and IEC 61034 smoke density requirements that many international data centers and telecom facilities mandate; the low-smoke zero-halogen formulation produces minimal HCl and other corrosive gases during a fire, protecting sensitive electronics in the same room and reducing evacuation risk in occupied spaces. The cord is cULus Listed, meets ANSI/TIA-1096-A (formerly FCC Part 68) for modular plug performance, complies with IEC 60603-7 for 8P8C connectors, and is RoHS-compliant for WEEE directive adherence in EU installations. This combination makes the UTP28X100GR a drop-in solution for 10GBASE-T server uplinks, SAN extension over Ethernet, virtualized host clusters running vMotion and iSCSI, parallel processing fabrics in HPC environments, and backbone aggregation links between access and distribution layers — any scenario where you need guaranteed 10-Gigabit performance in a package that doesn't choke your cable infrastructure or force you to derate PoE power budgets.