Question

CAT5 cabling question

Asked by: gmichels

Are all the wires in a CAT5 used on a 100Mbps Ethernet LAN? Or just the same 4 in a CAT3?  What I would like to do is run a CAT5 cable to my son's bedroom, using the standard wires for Ethernet and then use a pair of the unused wires for a phone line thus eliminating the need to run two cabels to the other room.

Sound feasible? Any unforeseen problems?

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Asked On
2002-08-16 at 14:21:49ID20337580
Tags

cat5

,

unused

,

pairs

Topics

Miscellaneous Networking

,

Network Cards & Adapters

,

Networking Cables

Participating Experts
3
Points
50
Comments
7

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Answers

 

by: MrWhipsterPosted on 2002-08-16 at 16:12:28ID: 7225760

Check out

http://www.stg.brown.edu/~sjd/wiring/CAT5-wiring.html

The same wires are used. CAT5 is rated for higher speeds and has more twists per CM than Cat3 does.

 

by: MrWhipsterPosted on 2002-08-16 at 16:20:25ID: 7225771

 

by: scraig84Posted on 2002-08-19 at 05:17:36ID: 7228273

They do use the same wires, but I don't know that anyone would recommend using an unused pair for phone use.  I would think the interference could severely hamper the speed and error rate.  I would run more wires.  If you're going to run 1, you might as well run 2 and do it right.

 

by: MrWhipsterPosted on 2002-08-19 at 05:27:33ID: 7228283

Why not forget the wires and go to 802.11b wireless ethernet. It's a bit costly, but does save on the wires, and is more versatile.

 

by: scraig84Posted on 2002-08-19 at 05:30:05ID: 7228287

If you need to run wires for phone anyway, why spend the money?  Also, if 100Mb truly is a concern, than 11Mb won't cut it.

 

by: moneymadnessPosted on 2002-08-19 at 09:23:33ID: 7228819

I have seen peeps use the spare pairs for another netowork point.... creating 2 UTP connections down one cat5 cable, but I agree with the others... a phone line carries some nasty interference I think... it carries hi-ish power (enough power to run 3 bells on the end of a 100m cable if I remember the REN correctly).
I would also reccomend running a second cable.

 

by: gmichelsPosted on 2002-08-22 at 07:27:44ID: 7236174

Thanks all. It was also the interference that concerned me. I'll go ahead and run two, making a yet bigger hole in my house.

Sorry I didn't answer sooner...didn't get any notifs!

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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