Re: Cat 3 cabling

[Nicolas Bougues <nbougues@axialys.net>]

On Fri, Oct 24, 2003 at 03:27:32AM +0800, Jason Lim wrote:
> 
> So in essense, since they are both 4-pairs, just looking at it won't let
> you know which it is (without actually testing it)?
> 

Right. And furthermore, even "testing" with 100 Mbps Ethernet
equipment is not the right thing to do.

> Any way to turn Cat 5 into Cat 3, and vice versa?
> 

Cat 3 is ok for 10 MHz signal, Cat 5 for 100 MHz. There are of course
other paramters in the spec, like signal attenuation, isolation,
etc. There are devices to certify cables, such as Fluke Networks
tools. They are not cheap, though ($5000 +).

Simply put, don't use Cat3 for Ethernet. Use Cat 5. Or, since Cat 5 is
deprecated, Cat 5e, which is 100 MHz too, but with enhancements. Or
Cat 6 (250 MHz), or Cat 7 (500 MHz, I think). But then you need to be
rich :)

-- 
Nicolas Bougues
Axialys Interactive