Problem with CAT 5 cable

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bill Lathan
  • Start date Start date
B

Bill Lathan

My wife asked me to put a computer in a room for her, a different room than
other computer equipment. All of the current computer equipment is in one
room; thus, in this computer room I use a Linksys router connected to a
cable modem and have several machines connected to the router. To make
things quick, I elected to put holes in the ceilings of two closets, run
cat5 cable through the attic, and then simply put a connector on each end.
lt shouldn't
be a big deal, right? Well, it has certainly turned out to be. I can run a
50' cable across the floor between the two rooms and things work with no
problems; the 50' cable is one I purchased with connectors already attached.
However, with my approx. 75' of cable through the attic and connectors I put
on myself, it simply doesn't work. The computer I'm trying to get attached
has the network cable unplugged icon in the system tray. [All machines
discussed are
running Windows XP Pro.]

I have looked up the correct way to attach connectors and I've tried the EIA
way and the straight way, meaning a color plus its mate on each set of two
pins. [I also have the correct tools to attach the connectors.] I've checked
continuity of the cable using a couple of wall plates; each pin on one end
does show continuity at the other end, and there are no shorts across any of
the pins. Frankly, I am stumped, which is why I'm asking for help. If
nothing
comes up, I'm tempted to get a 75-100 foot cable with connectors and just
use
it through the attic, which would mean the holes would have to be much
bigger.

TIA,

Bill
 
Try copying the colours of the 50' cable that works OK to the same
configuration for the cable you are trying to make up. Ensure the
orientation of the cable in the connector is correct.

john
 
Bill Lathan said:
My wife asked me to put a computer in a room for her, a different room than
other computer equipment. All of the current computer equipment is in one
room; thus, in this computer room I use a Linksys router connected to a
cable modem and have several machines connected to the router. To make
things quick, I elected to put holes in the ceilings of two closets, run
cat5 cable through the attic, and then simply put a connector on each end.
lt shouldn't
be a big deal, right? Well, it has certainly turned out to be. I can run a
50' cable across the floor between the two rooms and things work with no
problems; the 50' cable is one I purchased with connectors already attached.
However, with my approx. 75' of cable through the attic and connectors I put
on myself, it simply doesn't work. The computer I'm trying to get attached
has the network cable unplugged icon in the system tray. [All machines
discussed are
running Windows XP Pro.]

I have looked up the correct way to attach connectors and I've tried the EIA
way and the straight way, meaning a color plus its mate on each set of two
pins. [I also have the correct tools to attach the connectors.] I've checked
continuity of the cable using a couple of wall plates; each pin on one end
does show continuity at the other end, and there are no shorts across any of
the pins. Frankly, I am stumped, which is why I'm asking for help. If
nothing
comes up, I'm tempted to get a 75-100 foot cable with connectors and just
use
it through the attic, which would mean the holes would have to be much
bigger.

TIA,
Bill
Click to expand...

Bill,

Simply wiring adjacent pin pairs to a pair of coloured wires is not correct.
It's important that each signal pair is run over a twisted pair (colour /
same colour with white stripe). A cable with electrical continuity but not
using the twisted pairs correctly may work over a short length, or, even
over 100 ft at 10mbps, but not at 100mbps.

I wired up my house with similar length cables and no problems following
this connection scheme: (568B)
http://www.alatec.com/info/rj45.html
Notice how the green / blue pairs do not use adjacent pins.

HTH

Dave.
 
Back
Top