How Long Can You Run Category 5e Cable?
When installing or upgrading a network, it is important to understand the limitations of the cable you are using. If your network extends farther than the cabling can support, then serious network errors can occur.
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Limitation
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For Category 5e network cable, the maximum distance between nodes is 100 meters. This means the total run of the cable, including vertical movement and connections running through hubs, must not exceed 100 meters.
Extending
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A network running on Category 5e cable can be extended past the 100 meter limit. To overcome this limitation, the cable must be run through a router or switch. This will extend the network beyond 100 meters without compromising network integrity.
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Warning
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You need to be aware of the overall maximum distance, or network diameter, of the type of network you are using. For basic 10baseT networks, you can run the network a total distance of 500 meters. On Fast Ethernet (100baseT) and Gigabit Ethernet (1000baseT) networks, the maximum network diameter is reduced to 205 meters.
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References
- Photo Credit yellow network cable image by Adkok from Fotolia.com
