Do I need "special" ethernet cable for running through a hot attic?

[tmbrown97]

If time isn't on your side, I'd personally just go to Home Depot and get some appropriate cable from there and pull it - a lot of their cat6 is junk, but they have some that's not bad - the different to the end user is in how easy it is to work with - to strip without cutting the wires underneath; and how sturdy the sheath is.
 
As DEL touched on, pulling wires can also be damaging to the ends - whether going through small holes or needing to secure something to the wire and pull it, the ends usually need to be trimmed off and cleaned up and only custom-cut cable will be the perfect length without excess that can be unsightly or get damaged.  The other thing DEL eluded to - usually those premade wires use stranded wire so if the end does get damaged, it's not as easy to just throw a new end on it.

 

[NeverDie]

Do you guys like hanging your LV wiring from the rafters to avoid stepping/tripping on it, or do you prefer just letting it lay on the top of the insulation that's covering your ceiling joists?

 

[tmbrown97]

You're gonna get varying answers here, but personally if I'm just hanging a couple wires, I grab a bag of these fingered clips from home depot - they're in the LV wiring area usually, and I think they're intended for coax (can't find them online) but they have a few fingers and can be nailed to the rafters - you can stack several wires into them but they hold them up pretty securely.  Of course if you were wiring the whole house there are other methods to account for weight and crushing forces - but you're only running a couple so anything that keeps them neat and up out of the way works.
 
Trip hazards in an attic are always bad - a misstep could send you through the ceiling.

 

[pete_c]

Trip hazards in an attic are always bad - a misstep could send you through the ceiling.

 
Yup; here I did that while "yelling" at my dad to be careful and tripping in the attic walking in the 1980's. 
 
It was a 20 foot drop and my hips caught me (did get a bunch of splinters though).  It was a PITA to fix.

 

[NeverDie]

Got the cable.  Jacketing has 75C printed on it, which is a step up from the 60C minimum requirement for CMR cable.    75C is 167F.  Asphalt shingles can get pretty hot (150F) from the sun, and so the immediate underside of roof decking can approach 150F.  60C is just 140F, which would be somewhere in the neighborhood of worst case rafter temperatures.   If a long  60C rated cable was attached to rafters and got extra heating from carrying PoE, loads...     Not sure what the temperature rating is on cable that isn't rated at least CMR, but even 60C doesn't leave much (if any) headroom for a scenario like that.  Anyhow, glad mine is 75C and not the usual 60C.  I suspect cable rated less than 60C (e.g. a typical, inexpensive, non-CMR patch cable) wouldn't handle Texas summer attic heat very well.  Just closing the loop on the question that began this thread.

 

[pete_c]

Here I have my attic LV wires up high. 
 
Unrelated but also installed RG-6 cabling around the same time.
 
It was/is quad shielded RG-6 monster cable.  It wasn't related to the heat though but rather the cold. 
 
This cable became brittle with the cold temperatures.  I purchased the cable in bulk (500-1000 feet).  It started to become brittle after about 1 winter and turned me off to ever buying RG-6 Monster cable....probably mostly related to maybe a bad spool of wire.

 

[Del91574]

Got the cable.  Jacketing has 75C printed on it, which is a step up from the 60C minimum requirement for CMR cable.    75C is 167F.  Asphalt shingles can get pretty hot (150F) from the sun, and so the immediate underside of roof decking can approach 150F.  60C is just 140F, which would be somewhere in the neighborhood of worst case rafter temperatures.   If a long  60C rated cable was attached to rafters and got extra heating from carrying PoE, loads...     Not sure what the temperature rating is on cable that isn't rated at least CMR, but even 60C doesn't leave much (if any) headroom for a scenario like that.  Anyhow, glad mine is 75C and not the usual 60C.  I suspect cable rated less than 60C (e.g. a typical, inexpensive, non-CMR patch cable) wouldn't handle Texas summer attic heat very well.  Just closing the loop on the question that began this thread.

You're overthinking this WAY too much.
 
@ Pete: we have a lot of issues with plenum rated cables and some fire rated cables and low temperatures with jackets cracking. Usually the more "plastic" the outer jacket, the better they fare. Monster cable did a good job with their marketing....convince someone to pay more for a cable that has no appreciable performance gain.

 

[pete_c]

Monster cable did a good job with their marketing....convince someone to pay more for a cable that has no appreciable performance gain.

 
True.  Here got a 1000 foot spool of the double RG6 for some $50 and free shipping.
 
I figured Monster cable would be good at the time (well 10 years ago); seller probably already knew it was garbage and had no real value; sucker me bought it though and used it.