Cable Length Calculator
Calculate total cable needed for a network or wiring project. Find total wire run length in feet, number of spools, conduit fill, and material cost.
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Total Cable Needed (ft)
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Spools Needed (1000 ft) —
Total Cable (meters) —
Extended More scenarios, charts & detailed breakdown ▾
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Single Run Length
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Within Cat6 328ft Limit? —
Professional Full parameters & maximum detail ▾
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Cable Quantity
Total Cable (ft) —
Spools Needed (1000 ft) —
Max Run Check —
Cost
Cable Material Cost —
Cost at Spool Level (round up) —
Infrastructure
Patch Panels Needed —
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter the number of cable drops/runs in your project.
- Enter the average run length in feet (measure from patch panel to outlet).
- Set slack per run (default 10 ft for routing and termination).
- View total cable footage and number of 1,000 ft spools needed.
- Use the Building tab for multi-floor projects.
- Use the Conduit Fill tab to check how many cables fit in a given conduit size.
Formula
Total Cable = Number of Runs × (Avg Length + Slack)
Spools = Total Cable ÷ 1,000 ft
Conduit Fill = (Conduit Area × 40%) ÷ Cable Area
Example
Example: 24 drops, avg 80 ft runs, 10 ft slack → 24 × 90 ft = 2,160 ft → 2.16 spools → buy 3 spools. At $0.18/ft, material cost = $388.80.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Add at least 10 feet per run for routing around obstacles, termination at patch panels, and future flexibility for moves or repairs. For longer runs, 15 feet is a safe buffer.
- The TIA/EIA standard limits Cat6 horizontal runs to 295 feet (90 meters) with an additional 33 feet (10 meters) for patch cords, for a total maximum of 328 feet (100 meters).
- A 1" EMT conduit can hold approximately 26 Cat6 cables following the NEC 40% fill rule (0.864 sq in × 40% ÷ 0.0133 sq in per cable). This calculator computes this automatically.
- Most structured cabling (Cat6, Cat6A, coax) is sold on 1,000-foot spools. Some suppliers also offer 500-foot and 250-foot options for smaller projects.
- Yes — buying partial spools usually costs more per foot and leftover cable from one project is often useful in future work. This calculator rounds up to whole spools.