Network Question

[GilbertsGrape]

i have a couple of network questions.

i have read the distance limitaion of Twisted Pair Ethernet cable is 328ft if i had a run that was say 350 or 375 ft would i still be able to get a internet connection?



i would like to take one pair of wires from a cat 5 cable and put a bisket on bothe ends and have tellephone and use the other wires in the cable for interent/ethernet would that work on standard cat5 or 6 cable?

[Grimm]

i have a couple of network questions.

i have read the distance limitaion of Twisted Pair Ethernet cable is 328ft if i had a run that was say 350 or 375 ft would i still be able to get a internet connection?



i would like to take one pair of wires from a cat 5 cable and put a bisket on bothe ends and have tellephone and use the other wires in the cable for interent/ethernet would that work on standard cat5 or 6 cable?
Errr.... you need to use all four pairs for the network.
If you use more than 100 meters of cable you will hae an unreliable network. Heck, you should start to expect problems after 50 meters.

[Kevster]

I have personally seen 350' 10BaseT runs with the right cable. You most likely will not get 100BaseT. The standard is optimally 300 feet with terminations at each end and 14' patch cables (that's where the 328 foot distance comes from). Patch cables are normally made with stranded cable so they have a higher attenuation than solid-core cables. The reason stranded cable is used for patch cords is because the connector blades get a much better interconnection than they would with a solid-core cable (it would deflect to one side with solid core). For any distance over the 328' standard, attenuation becomes a bigger issue so you might want to get a Cat6 cable that is 23 Gauge instead of the standard Cat5e 24 gauge.

If you want to split out the pairs (blue/orange pairs on a CAT5e jack and the green/brown pairs on a RJ25C) that is possible, though you may only get 10BaseT to work and not 100BaseT for shorter runs. Make sure you keep the cable at least 1' away from any power cables that could add EMI noise to your link.

[GilbertsGrape]

this is the wire i thought about geting.
http://www.bandacomputer.com/storefrontprofiles/processfeed.aspx?sfid=102895&i=2395839&mpid=246&dfid=1

what i need to do is share a DSL lite connection betwen 3 computers. one at my friend Steve's mom's house , one at a small country store, and the other at steve's house

I can try and put a pix up
http://hunterridgesupply.com/net.jpg

[Kevster]

You might be able to get that to work. My only reservation is the cable - it's likely a generic cable that will barely meet the spec.

My next question is this: you have three buildings here - is this an outdoor installation? Is this cable going to be buried or be installed outside with exposure to the sun? If you have outdoor sun exposure on this cable, the UV radiation will break down the jacketing on the cable within 3 years and your cable won't work well at all, even if it doesn't short out. An outdoor cable should have a polyethylene (PE) jacketing instead of PVC jacketing like your cable you're considering buying.

[Jeffbx]

The standard is optimally 300 feet with terminations at each end and 14' patch cables (that's where the 328 foot distance comes from).

Heh - I never heard that! I always thought it was because they made the spec in meters - 328 feet=100 meters.

Kevster is right on about everything - if you do try the run with high quality cable, it probably will work at 10Mb (which would be fine for a DSL connection).

However, have you considered going wireles? You should be able to cover that area pretty easily with an antenna mounted outside of Steve's Mom's house. Just have to make sure your security is good to avoid sharing with the other neighbors. That doesn't solve the phone line issue, of course, unless you looked into VoIP.

[GilbertsGrape]

where the run will be is sort of a wooded area i wasnt sure if wireless would work at those distances. also the store building is a a metal panel building so it is a skin of metal, 2" if foam insulation and another skin of metal and i didnt think wireless would go through it.

I thought that the wooded and shade of the aria would make the cable last longer. i was hopeing for 5-7 year cable life. i thought the outside jacked may deteriate some but the inner cable coating may provide some pertection.


can you recomend some good cheap cable or a good cheap list of wireless componets to do the job?

[nojoke007]

While the max is 100m, typically 90m is the number that is commonly used just to prevent problems.

[GilbertsGrape]

how do companies get over this limitation when they have a large building?

[Itsme]

how do companies get over this limitation when they have a large building?

Our company "extends" the runs by using modems made for this purpose. You can get a pair of modems that will extend the runs past 1000 feet.

[Kevster]

how do companies get over this limitation when they have a large building?

Generally in a larger building you will have IDF closets (Intermediate Distribution Frame). Your local copper runs will be homerun back to this closet. This closet will be interconnected with other closets or the MDF (Main Distribution Frame) via multimode or singlemode optical fiber. Your IDFs will typically have 10/100BaseT switches with 1000BaseSX or 1000BaseFX fiber links to the MDF equipment. Your MDF is typically where your server equipment should be, with single or multiple 1000BaseT links to that equipment. Remember too that your IDFs will handle your data, voice and video distribution so you could have voice cabling on the wall cross-connected to 100-200pair Cat 3 voice feeder cables run from the MDF or the phone switch distribution panel. Your coax video runs typically are terminated in IDFs and connected to 4-1 or 8-1 splitters and connected to a long-haul coax cable (typically with a larger-diameter center aluminum-conductor).

JeffBx, the 300' design restriction I mentioned comes from the BICSI recommendation. The 100-meter limit does not include any additional distance for higher-impedance patch cables. The BICSI design recommendation accounts for this. In my old job over 6 years ago I used to do this all the time and I held an RCDD certification. It has since lapsed since it doesn't help in my current job (I still try to keep up with the industry standards though).

The modems that Esme mentioned are long-haul modems and they will not give you the same bitrate as 10base-T (19.2k, 33.6k, 56k, etc are the speeds I have seen) but it will work over copper where you are way over distance and don't want to put in multimode fiber because of the installation and equipment expense. Long-haul modems aren't cheap either, but they work and are simple to use.

[GilbertsGrape]

could i use cat 6 cable instead of cat 5 cable and increase my distance? the cheapest way possable is what i am looking for to share a DSL connection.