cat5 vs cat3

[crazychicken]

i was just wondering the difference. do they both have 8 cables in 4 twisted pairs? or is cat3 only 2 pairs? what is normal phone wire called? Does it have a name?

lmk
david

 

[jh0sken612]

Cat 5 has 8 wires in 4 pairs.

IDK about cat3-

Phone wire only has 4 wires. RJ11 plugs, dunno name of cabling

 

[genius19]

you could technically network with cat3, though your bandwidth would suffer. All you need in a network cable is 4 wires (for pins 1,2,3, and 6) So you could even network with phone cable, but you will notice major bottlenecks.

Nick
Computery Systems & Service

 

[bigshooter]

 

[odog]

cat3 is 2 pair UTP(unshielded twisted pair) cat5 is 4 pair UTP

phone wire is usually cat3.

 

[ScottMac]

Category rating has nothhing to do with conductor count.

A "Category" rated cable means it has been swept and tested to carry specific signalling and frequency, while maintaining certain characteristics (like attenuation and several type of crosstalk).

Cat3 is certified to a much lower specification than Cat 5 (5e, 6). Cat 5 (5e, 6) is capable of carrying a much higher frequency.

Generally speaking, Cat3 is competent for carrying 10BASE-T, Cat4 is competent for 16M Token-Ring, Cat5 is required for most 100 megabit protocols (100BASE-TX, ATM155, CDDI, etc), 5, 5e and 6 are specified for carrying Gigabit Ethernet (most require 5e or better).

Phone cable (includes the flat silver stuff, buff-colored stuff, etc) is unrated and unsuitable for netowrking. If a component doesn't specifically say "Rated to Category X" then it's basically a voice phone cabling component...and NOT suitable for networking.

If any part/cable/component in the end-to-end connection is unrated, the entire system is unrated. The system is category-rated for the rating of the lowest rated component. Components include: the cable, panels, inserts, the little clear crimp-on RJ45 plugs, couplers,.....every part that carrys signal must be rated or none of it is rated.

UTP/CatX comes as solid conductor or stranded conductor. Solid is for in-wall or other static uses. Stranded is for jumpers or any cable that may experience occasional flexion. THere are RJ45 plugs specifically for each (solid, stranded).

In addition, the pair-order of the cabling must be in a specific order (white-orange, orange, white-green, blue, white-blue, green, white-brown, brown - 568B...swap the orange and green pairs for 568A). If the proper pair-ordering is incirrect, the cable will not meet specification (and probably won't carry 100 meg without significant errors).

SO now that you have the right components, and you have the right pair-order, next is the "No" rules....no sharp bends (less than 2" radius), no kinks, no twists, no constriction of the jacket. You are limited by specification on how much pulling force you can use to while running the cable.

Unshielded twisted pair (UTP) - what most people are calling "Cat 5," is not recommended for outdoor use. There is one company that I know of that produces exterior grade UTP/Cat5, and they have very specific setups to do it (like you MUST use entry protection).

Plenum-rated UTP/CatX is basically the same cabling, in a jacket that has a higher flash-point, and produces less toxic gasses when ignited. It has no additional UV protection and is also not suitable for any kind of outdoor use. Plenum-rated cable is usually a bit more expensive than standard jacketed cable.

And, lastly, all of this stuff falls into the relm of "Structured Cabling." THe idea is that one cable plant can handle a wide variety of signalling, not necessarily just networking data. Structured cabling can handle Data, phone, RS232 serial, 3270 terminal traffic, 5250 traffic, baseband video, S-Video, line-level audio, RF, alarm circuits...just about anything. There are two and four pair versions of any Cat-rated cable, but installing two-pair defeats the concept of structured cabling.

I think that covers most of it (in a nutshell). Of course there are VOLUMES written about any little aspect of structured cabling, but this is the basic stuff.

Edit: corrected pair order ( Duh!)

FWIW

Scott

 

[odog]

great post scott but you got the colors wrong..

it's white orange, orange, white green, blue, white blue, green, white brown, brown...586b(swap green pairs for orange and you have 585a)

 

[crazychicken]

insane scott! thanks alot man

 

[ScottMac]

Yep, yer right. WG, B, WB, G, .....I've type it right a dozen times here.....just a brain fart. Thanks, good catch!

FWIW

Scott

 

[ScottMac]

Bump, one time.