Category 5 Cable Quality - NETGEAR RangeMax WPN824 Reference Manual

Reference Manual for the RangeMax Wireless Router WPN824
Table B-1. UTP Ethernet cable wiring, straight-through
Pin Wire color
1 Orange/White
2 Orange
3 Green/White
4 Blue
5 Blue/White
6 Green
7 Brown/White
8 Brown

Category 5 Cable Quality

Category 5 distributed cable that meets ANSI/EIA/TIA-568-A building wiring standards can be a
maximum of 328 feet (ft.) or 100 meters (m) in length, divided as follows:
20 ft. (6 m) between the hub and the patch panel (if used)
295 ft. (90 m) from the wiring closet to the wall outlet
10 ft. (3 m) from the wall outlet to the desktop device
The patch panel and other connecting hardware must meet the requirements for 100 Mbps
operation (Category 5). Only 0.5 inch (1.5 cm) of untwist in the wire pair is allowed at any
termination point.
A twisted pair Ethernet network operating at 10 Mbits/second (10BASE-T) will often tolerate low
quality cables, but at 100 Mbits/second (10BASE-Tx) the cable must be rated as Category 5, or
Cat 5, by the Electronic Industry Association (EIA). This rating will be printed on the cable jacket.
A Category 5 cable will meet specified requirements regarding loss and crosstalk. In addition,
there are restrictions on maximum cable length for both 10 and 100 Mbits/second networks.
B-12
Signal
Transmit (Tx) +
Transmit (Tx) -
Receive (Rx) +
Receive (Rx) -
202-10072-01, March 2005
Network, Routing, Firewall, and Basics