Cat5 vs Cat6

[Jim Haliburton]

There was some discussion about Cat5e vs Cat6 for Gigabit.  Gigabit was
designed to run on Cat5  It does not require Cat5e or Cat6.  If you have a
speed issue there is a lot more than the cable that is an issue.

Probably the most reliable way to determine the problem is to have the cable
tested with a cable tester, not the program from a NIC vendor.  

Using a meter such as a Fluke DSP 100 or better will determine the quality of
the connection.

Getting a link light or auto negotiation is not an indication of connection
quality.

A simple test to see if the wiring is at fault is to make a transfer test.  
Then lock the card in 10 not 100 mbit.  Run the test again.  If the cable is
the problem then the speed at 10 may be faster.

The likley fault of the cable is poor or incorrect termination, not the wire.  
Gigabit runs just fine on Cat5 that is properly installed and terminated.  

The 2nd biggest cause of poor speed is the patch cord from the wall plate to
the PC.  Gert a new 8 conductor patch cord.  Try it.

Often time Aliant (sic) would supply 4 conductor patch cords with their DSL
modems.  They work for the miserable speeds they deliver, but not for a gigabit
network.

Gigabit requires all 4 pairs to work properly.  10 and 100 does not.

I have a Fluke DSP 100 and termination tools as part of my work, and that is my
experience.

Jim H

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[Jason Kenney-2]

People seriously still use cat5?  Why? Can you even buy it?

If you have a speed issues or link problems on a cat5 cable, you go
buy a $2 cat5e cable, not a $$$ cable tester?


Jason

On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 7:57 AM, Jim Haliburton <jim@...> wrote:

> There was some discussion about Cat5e vs Cat6 for Gigabit.  Gigabit was
> designed to run on Cat5  It does not require Cat5e or Cat6.  If you have a
> speed issue there is a lot more than the cable that is an issue.
>
> Probably the most reliable way to determine the problem is to have the cable
> tested with a cable tester, not the program from a NIC vendor.
>
> Using a meter such as a Fluke DSP 100 or better will determine the quality of
> the connection.
>
> Getting a link light or auto negotiation is not an indication of connection
> quality.
>
> A simple test to see if the wiring is at fault is to make a transfer test.
> Then lock the card in 10 not 100 mbit.  Run the test again.  If the cable is
> the problem then the speed at 10 may be faster.
>
> The likley fault of the cable is poor or incorrect termination, not the wire.
> Gigabit runs just fine on Cat5 that is properly installed and terminated.
>
> The 2nd biggest cause of poor speed is the patch cord from the wall plate to
> the PC.  Gert a new 8 conductor patch cord.  Try it.
>
> Often time Aliant (sic) would supply 4 conductor patch cords with their DSL
> modems.  They work for the miserable speeds they deliver, but not for a gigabit
> network.
>
> Gigabit requires all 4 pairs to work properly.  10 and 100 does not.
>
> I have a Fluke DSP 100 and termination tools as part of my work, and that is my
> experience.
>
> Jim H
>
> _______________________________________________
> nSLUG mailing list
> nSLUG@...
> http://nslug.ns.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nslug
>

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[Daniel Morrison-2]

2009/11/2 Jason Kenney <jdkenney@...>:
> People seriously still use cat5?  Why? Can you even buy it?
>
> If you have a speed issues or link problems on a cat5 cable, you go
> buy a $2 cat5e cable, not a $$$ cable tester?

Costs a heckuva lot more than $2 to run new cat5e infrastructure cable
in a building. You only have to pay $$$ for a tester once. Everytime
it shows you that a cable was mis-wired, you can fix it in a couple of
minutes for free with your bix tool, or with a pair of new ends for
$0.50.

I also have a Fluke -- not nearly as fancy but it is still invaluable.

I had forgotten about the four-pair requirement for Gigabit. Thanks
for the reminder, Jim!

-D.
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