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Cat5 (5e, 6, & 6a) patch cable length

88keys

88keys

Golden Member
So I understand that the minimum length for these cables is 1 meter.

My question is does it always have to meet that spec to function at 100%?

Is it ok for patch cables from Modem to Router or Router to Switch to be less than 1 meter?

Also, if the Ethernet Cable inside the walls is well over 1 meter, does it make a difference if the cable plugged in to the jack to your NAS or other network device is less than 1 meter?

I could be wrong, but my guess is that none of this matters for home use, but I'm extremely anal when it comes to these things so I must know so I can bring my home network up to code.
 
1 meter thing is active device to active device. Some devices don't care, others start having problems because the signal is "to loud." Patch panels / wall jacks etc are passive devices.

I have pile of 1/3 meter cables going switch to patch panel.
 
So basically is okay to have short cables from the wall jack to the device providing the entire connection is greater than 3 meters when interior wall cabling is included
Or in other words, youre good as long as patch cable + interior wall cable is greater than one meter.
 
Interesting, I never realized there was a minimum length. I have a CAT6 cable less than 1 meter (1 ft) connecting my modem to my router and no problems.
 
Fardringle said:
It CAN work, it's just not within the spec required to be guaranteed to work properly.
Click to expand...

It also will work with 6" cables - at least mine does. I would never do that in a production environment though, your NEXT (near-end crosstalk) would probably be outrageous. I'm currently not seeing any issues on my managed switch on my home network with such a short cable but it's definitely outside of spec - not enough twists.
 
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