flat ethernet cables

[the FooL]

The little I know about ethernet cables is that twisted pair is designed that way so it minimizes EMI between the pair of wires as well as the wires around them.

However, do all these wires have to be twisted together as well or can the each pair of wires be laid down side by side.

Basically, my question is whether flat ethernet cables are worse or the same as your standard rounded ethernet cable.

Thanks.

 

[spidey07]

They are supposed to be twisted around each other, however if the flat cable truly passes category specification then it is a category rated cable.

Cat6 however requires the twist down the length of the cable, otherwise it simply won't pass.

 

[bigpow]

I've been using one of those cheapy rolled-on (yoyo) ethernet cable.
Not only that the cable is flat, it's super thin as well.
but for its length (less than 1m), I don't think it suffers from any interference issue

 

[ScottMac]

Every cable with an RJ45 connector is not an Ethernet cable. If it doesn't explicitly say it's rated as Category 5{5e, 6}, then it's not rated, it's a "phone cord" used for things like the PBX-connected phones at work.

They "probably" will work to some degree, but the performance would be sub-optimal.

If it's Category-rated, then it's Category rated and should perform as well as any other Category-rated cable (given that it's properly terminated)

(and just because it's flat and *can* fit under a rug (for example) it's still a Bad Thing to have people walking on it, chair rolling across it, cats/dogs/gerbils/ferrets/lizards chewing on it, and all the other horrors that you can imagine happening to a cable on the floor.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[cmetz]

Ethernet is cool because things that shouldn't work mostly work.

Ethernet sucks because things that shouldn't work mostly work.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: cmetz
Ethernet is cool because things that shouldn't work mostly work.

Ethernet sucks because things that shouldn't work mostly work.

Ain't that the truth.

Vampire taps anyone? You literally screwed a "tap" that had a long prong that pieced the outer shell and shielding of a large coaxial cable and two small prongs that pieced the outer foil. The entire layer1/layer2 protocol was meant to avoid or get around the inevitable incorrect bits/voltages.