RS and Belden Enable Reliable Industrial Ethernet Networks
September 26, 2025
RS now offers Belden’s DataTuff Industrial Ethernet cables, the unique construction of which ensures that the electrical performance promised on product datasheets is what customers can expect to experience upon installation.
Industrial Ethernet cables are the backbone of modern industrial operations — enabling the secure, reliable, and real-time transmission of data necessary to facilitate Industry 4.0 initiatives ranging from automation, asset management, and predictive maintenance to the IIoT, IT/OT convergence, and cloud and edge computing. As such, the global Industrial Ethernet market is experiencing substantial growth. Its estimated value of $12.19 billion in 2024 is projected to nearly double to a value of $21.10 billion by 2033.
Industrial Ethernet cables enable higher speeds, greater stability, lower latency, and stronger security than Wi-Fi connections and — unlike commercial Ethernet cables — are built to endure harsh conditions, including vibration, extreme temperatures, moisture, oil, and chemicals. They’re used to network industrial equipment and devices, such as switches, drives, controllers, and access points, and are ideally suited for use in factories, refineries, plants, and transit hubs.
Belden’s DataTuff Industrial Ethernet cables are engineered to deliver high-volume data transfer, exhibit rugged durability, and maximize equipment uptime in a wide range of industrial environments. Most feature Belden’s patented bonded pair construction, which affixes the conductor insulation of the cable pairs along their longitudinal axes to prevent conductor pairs from untwisting, separating, and creating performance-robbing gaps. This construction ensures uniform centricity and superior electrical performance — even after the cables have been subjected to the bending, pulling, and twisting inherent to installation and utilized in harsh industrial environments.
It reduces the cables’ susceptibility to noise, limits signal radiation, and exhibits stable impedance, reduced return losses, and better signal-to-noise ratios than competing Industrial Ethernet cables. This construction — combined with extensive testing for cold bend, cut through, water immersion, crushing, UV exposure, abrasion, oil resistance, cold impact, and high temperature performance — also ensures that the electrical performance promised on product datasheets is what customers can expect to experience upon installation, which isn’t a given with competing Industrial Ethernet cables.
The breadth of Belden’s cable portfolio is impressive as well. DataTuff Industrial Ethernet cables are available in CAT5e, CAT5e PROFINET, CAT6, CAT6A, CAT7, and Single-Pair Ethernet (SPE) versions with data rates spanning 100Mb/s to 10Gb/s and temperature ratings extending from -70°C to +150°C. The range also offers:
- Shielded and unshielded cables
- Solid and stranded bare and tinned copper conductors
- Plenum and non-plenum PVC, polyethylene, FEP, and TPE jackets
- Polyolefin and FEP insulation
- Halogen-free and low-smoke, zero-halogen (LSZH) constructions
- Low-flex cables for permanent installations, moderate-flex cables for broad use, and continuous-flex cables for active applications like robotic arms
- Heavy, unjacketed, and aluminum or steel interlocked armor cable
- Cable suitable for burial and exposure to oil, sunlight, gasoline, temperature variations, abrasion, crushing, flexing, EMI/RFI, and weld spatter
Approvals include RoHS compliance and select cables with EtherNet/IP or Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) compliance.
“DataTuff Industrial Ethernet cables significantly outperform and outlast commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) cables when subjected to common hazards in industrial environments and offer a range of differentiators — including our patented bonded pair construction and extensive portfolio breadth — that make them more attractive than competing Industrial Ethernet cables as well,” said Erika Grayson, Global Data Product Line Manager at Belden.
“The quality of these products starts with our highly specialized engineers, whose electrical expertise ensures that our R&D team can troubleshoot, design, and test every product from concept through launch,” she continued. “Before releasing a new DataTuff cable, our engineers run nine rigorous tests to confirm that installed performance meets datasheet standards. These products are also backed by 120 years of R&D experience, a 10-year warranty — which is pretty significant — and the support of our engineering, sales, customer service, and product management teams. So, you can trust the DataTuff Industrial Ethernet cable portfolio to meet virtually any industrial application demand.”
RS offers an extensive selection of Belden connectivity products, including Industrial Ethernet cables and cable assemblies, like DataTuff Industrial Ethernet cables, corresponding connectors, like DataTuff RJ45 connectors and REVConnect industrial connectors, and accessories ranging from faceplates, patch panels, and surface mount boxes to switches, I/O modules, and tools.
Interview with Erika Grayson, Global Data Product Line Manager, Belden
