Cat 5 or cat 6

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Scott
    Trusted Tech

    Site Contributor
    100+ Posts
    • Dec 2009
    • 185

    Cat 5 or cat 6

    We just had a weird experience, we took a 3253 out for install and when we got there the network cable plugged into the unit with no link lights and we just pulled it out of a unit with link lights working. So thinking that the unit had a bad nic port we brought in another unit and the same thing happened. So we took another cable plugged it in and it worked. The only difference between the 2 cables was 1 was cat 5 and the other was cat 6. Why???? never seen this before
  • guitar9199
    Service Manager

    Site Contributor
    1,000+ Posts
    • Sep 2016
    • 1097

    #2
    Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

    Possibly a bad cable.... not wired correctly or broken conductor.

    Comment

    • Scott
      Trusted Tech

      Site Contributor
      100+ Posts
      • Dec 2009
      • 185

      #3
      Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

      well thats what we thought but it worked on the other unit... however we firmly believe it was a hand made cable and something wasn't just right... just weird that it worked on the previous machine.... Go figure

      Comment

      • sparkycivic
        Trusted Tech

        250+ Posts
        • Apr 2017
        • 348

        #4
        Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

        what was the link rate on the old copier? the old one might have been only 100MBPS port, which only use 4 wires, and new one can go to 1000MBPS, using all eight wires. Auto-negotiation sometimes fails completely if certain wires are broken or not present("Cat-5" with only 4 wires).

        When I can't get a link, I always test by setting equipment to 10MBPS-half(only uses 2 wires), see if link works, then try all the other options until I find the ceiling. once it's reliably linked at the best possible link rate I, advise the customer to check their wiring, and after it's repaired set to auto, but not my problem anymore-customer happy machine works right away, and they usually don't ever bother to fix the outlet until after the failure progresses to total meltdown.

        Comment

        • Swift
          Technician
          • Apr 2011
          • 29

          #5
          Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

          Originally posted by Scott
          We just had a weird experience, we took a 3253 out for install and when we got there the network cable plugged into the unit with no link lights and we just pulled it out of a unit with link lights working. So thinking that the unit had a bad nic port we brought in another unit and the same thing happened. So we took another cable plugged it in and it worked. The only difference between the 2 cables was 1 was cat 5 and the other was cat 6. Why???? never seen this before
          Have you set the machine network speed to 100 base-T full duplex?
          It could be the switch port or wall point cable fault tolerance had deteriorate that could cause machine NIC unstable.

          Comment

          • Scott
            Trusted Tech

            Site Contributor
            100+ Posts
            • Dec 2009
            • 185

            #6
            Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

            Ended up being the cable was hand made especially for a sharp copier.... not a wire expert here but thats a new one on me

            Comment

            • darry1322
              Senior Tech

              Site Contributor
              500+ Posts
              • Oct 2010
              • 817

              #7
              Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

              Originally posted by Scott
              Ended up being the cable was hand made especially for a sharp copier.... not a wire expert here but thats a new one on me
              I had a new 3501i that wouldn't work on the same cable that was OK for the 330i that was being replaced once. Had a few odd installs since that needed new cables for the new machine. Higher connection rates just wouldn't work on the old cables.

              Comment

              • slimslob
                Retired

                Site Contributor
                25,000+ Posts
                • May 2013
                • 35057

                #8
                Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

                The major difference between Cat5 and Cat6 is that Cat 6 features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise, and provides performance of up to 250 MHz. Cat5e, in contrast, performs up to 100 MHz. Unless printed on the cable jacket itself the major observably is that the Cat 6 cable is usually stiffer in that it includes a spline (a longitudinal separator) in the wiring and thicker gauge conductor.

                Comment

                • Scott
                  Trusted Tech

                  Site Contributor
                  100+ Posts
                  • Dec 2009
                  • 185

                  #9
                  Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

                  Originally posted by slimslob
                  The major difference between Cat5 and Cat6 is that Cat 6 features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise, and provides performance of up to 250 MHz. Cat5e, in contrast, performs up to 100 MHz. Unless printed on the cable jacket itself the major observably is that the Cat 6 cable is usually stiffer in that it includes a spline (a longitudinal separator) in the wiring and thicker gauge conductor.

                  LOL no way ill remember that but thank you!

                  Comment

                  • slimslob
                    Retired

                    Site Contributor
                    25,000+ Posts
                    • May 2013
                    • 35057

                    #10
                    Re: Cat 5 or cat 6

                    Originally posted by Scott
                    LOL no way ill remember that but thank you!
                    Just remember that the only time Cat 6 is needed is for Gigabit connections.

                    Comment

                    Working...