Ethernet And Fiber-Optic Cables; Link Status; 10/100/1000 Port Connections - Cisco Catalyst 6800IA Hardware Installation Manual

Switch Connections
• Examine or exchange the copper or fiber-optic cable with a known, good cable.
• Look for broken or missing pins on cable connectors.
• Rule out any bad patch panel connections or media convertors between the source and the destination.
If possible, bypass the patch panel, or eliminate faulty media convertors (fiber-optic-to-copper).
• Try the cable in another port or interface, if possible, to see if the problem follows the cable.
• Remove and inspect the stack cable and stack port for bent pins or damaged connectors. If the cable is
bad, replace it with a known good cable.

Ethernet and Fiber-Optic Cables

Make sure that you have the correct cable for the connection.
• For Ethernet, use Category 3 copper cable for 10 Mb/s UTP connections. Use either Category 5, Category
5e, or Category 6 UTP for 10/100/1000 Mb/s connections.
• For fiber-optic cables, verify that you have the correct cable for distance and port type. Ensure that the
connected device ports match and use the same type of encoding, optical frequency, and fiber type.
• For copper connections, determine if a crossover cable was used when a straight-through was required
or the reverse. Enable auto-MDIX on the switch, or replace the cable.

Link Status

Verify that both sides have link. A single broken wire or a shutdown port can cause one side to show link
even though the other side does not have link.
A port LED that is on does not guarantee that the cable is fully functional. The cable might have encountered
physical stress that causes it to function at a marginal level. If the port LED does not turn on:
• Connect the cable from the switch to a known good device.
• Ensure that both ends of the cable are connected to the correct ports.
• Verify that both devices have power.
• Verify that you are using the correct cable type.
• Check for loose connections. Sometimes a cable appears to be seated, but is not. Disconnect the cable
and then reconnect it.

10/100/1000 Port Connections

A port appears to malfunction:
• Use the Mode button to show the status for all ports.
• Use the show interfaces privileged EXEC command to see if the port is error-disabled, disabled, or
shutdown. Reenable the port if necessary.
Catalyst 6800IA Switch Hardware Installation Guide
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Troubleshooting
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