How far can Cat5 go for a regular PC Lan?

[rory 0]

had an electrician run a cable from a router to a separate building, hooked up a switch, though even that the electrician said he got a green light on his meter when he tested the cable ends, I got nothing on the switch. Its only about 350-400', I would think that would be kind of short for cat5? The same electrician has run cat5 cable for the client before, for other PCs and he does the connectors and never had a problem before. Think maybe he just didnt connect it right this time?

 

Im wondering if I should buy the tool to do the connectors myself, but then Ive never done it, plus wonder if they even sell them here. He is off the island until Thursday so other wise it means calling out another person to go do that, seems like a waste of money IMO.

 

Rory

[survtech 0]

100 meters is supposed to be the limit for IP Cat-5. It might go farther at a reduced bitrate. Tools and connectors are dirt cheap and readily available. Here is a link to the connector wiring layout:

 

http://www.lanshack.com/make-cat5E.aspx

 

Make sure you know whether you need crossover or straight-through connector wiring. Patches for patch panels are typically straight-through while equipment-to-equipment cables are usually crossover. This assures that you connect the Tx at one end to the Rx at the other end, and vice-versa.

Edited September 10, 2007 by Guest

[rory 0]

Ok thanks, thats like 328 feet, think im pushing it?

Do they have anything to boost that further?

 

Thanks

Rory

[survtech 0]

Could be, but make sure the connectors are put on correctly for your application. The best choice is switches at no more than 100 meters apart. I read an article recently that said that ethernet repeaters tend to suffer from packet collisions due to their "dumb" nature (inability to re-send missing data).

 

Here's a link to a repeater that looks promising:

 

http://www.versatek.com/products/s-vlr104.htm

 

They're saying that standard ethernet can go up to 500'. Plus, I'd bet their repeater is more expensive than a cheap switch.

[rory 0]

thanks, though there is nothing else between these 2 buildings .. I'll check the cable tomorrow with a regular meter, just to make sure each pair is okay to begin with, maybe his cat5 meter was bad or something. I'll see if I can find a crimp tool and connectors also first .. looks fairly easy to do.

[survtech 0]

Just make sure you do the weird twist in the middle pairs.

[rory 0]

i dont see that on the link provided .. just sais cut them all at 1", spread them out, then cut down to 1/2", push them in, then crimp.

[rory 0]

doesnt look that far, here is a cut from G o o g l e Earth and the distance is based on their 200' marks .. I know it is accurate also, as that pool area is around 90', measured it before, and also have beams in that area.

 

Edited September 10, 2007 by Guest

[scorpion 0]

If at a minimum I would recommend this tool for checking your wires.

You can place one unit at one end of the wire run, and the other tool at the opposite side of the wire. This will tell you if you wired the plugs correctly, and it will tell you if the wires may have slipped when putting the ends on creating a crossed connection by mistake!

 

http://www.datacomtools.com/images3/tempo/cabletesters/larger/468.jpg

[rory 0]

yeah but if i cant buy it here, tomorrow, not worth it. Ill never use it again either, never had to touch cat5 cabling before, dont plan to again anytime soon at least This is just a one off thing. I might actually just try to see If I can get someone to come out there and do it instead .. if not then ill have to try it myself, and just leave the client with the tool.

[survtech 0]

"Versa Technology’s Long Reach Ethernet product family extends the maximum driving distance of Ethernet from 500ft to about 4,300ft for 10BASE-T and 1,000ft for 100BASE-TX without using any repeaters."

 

 

 

Don't throw away the tool and connectors. Prepare for the future. The future is IP!

Edited September 10, 2007 by Guest

[rory 0]

Prepare for the future. The future is IP!

 

* cough * i write software now

and in the future, hopefully we will have something better than flimsy cat5 cable

[survtech 0]

* cough * i write software now

and in the future, hopefully we will have something better than flimsy cat5 cable

Not likely in the near future. Not with the advent of 10Gb ethernet, iSCSI, etc.

[scorpion 0]

I am surprised that you do not have a tool similiar to it, considering how much computer work you do. I would think you would have to trouble shoot wires in the walls, wires from modems to routers, routers to PC, or DVRs ect.

 

I bought mine originally doing home wiring for structured homes. Now I find it greatful to have in the tool box all of the time.

 

I am checking phone wiring (cat 5), or networking wiring, or checking patch cables that I make on my own.

 

Once in a blue moon I catch another installer that "lost" it on the cable connector during application.

[rory 0]

I am surprised that you do not have a tool similiar to it, considering how much computer work you do. I would think you would have to trouble shoot wires in the walls, wires from modems to routers, routers to PC, or DVRs ect.

 

I bought mine originally doing home wiring for structured homes. Now I find it greatful to have in the tool box all of the time.

 

I am checking phone wiring (cat 5), or networking wiring, or checking patch cables that I make on my own.

 

Once in a blue moon I catch another installer that "lost" it on the cable connector during application.

 

Ive never had to troubleshoot Cat5. For telco when doing alarm work, we used a regular meter, and a toner. I dont do much network jobs around here, other than Internet based (in fact its almost always just software related work); most clients just have basic 1 PC setups, and at the most you just buy ready made cables and link them to a router, simple. Everything else, the cat5 is already run and tested by the electrician - but as you can see in this case, there is an issue

 

BTW, the switch is there for hardwired PCs and also a Wireless Access Point.

Edited September 10, 2007 by Guest

[SureVeillance 0]

Rory, good luck. Unfortunately, a simple continuity check on CAT5 does not guarantee that you will be able to pass Ethernet traffic. I recently ran 6 cables - all checked out good with a cat5 tester - crimped rj45s on one end and keystone jacks at the other end. 5 of the 6 worked perfectly, but the last one did not. I cut off both ends of the bad connection and crimped them again. Still no joy. Most likely, there is a kink in the cable somewhere which allows the continuity test to pass, but won't allow 10/100 mbps to connect.

[rory 0]

Thanks, yes thats what Im thinking also. Im going to meter the cables at different directions, regular meter that is, each pair but mix them up a bit, and see what I get. They ran it in conduit, mostly, but they also used some molding, I may have to trace the wire all the way back to see if there are any visual issues I can see .. no fun.

[rory 0]

good news, connector wiring was just incorrect, had someone else redo it and it worked straight away, seems we must have been just under 300' then ..

 

Im happy now!