Question:
quick question:
Is there anything special about ethernet cable?
A while back I was looking for some but couldn't find any. Then in woolworths I saw some very thin telephone wire with a 'slimline plug' which fitted the sockets and had the bonus of fitting under the carpet without a bulge.
But now I'm upgrading my broadband to maximum speed and I'm wondering if it's upto the job.
thanks
Answers:
Yes, there is a difference.
The wires within a CAT5 (network) cable are twisted and arranged in such a way as to minimise 'crosstalk' interference. Network cable is manufactured to a higher standard than telephone cable, even though the plugs on the ends look similar!
You can run phone systems over network cable, but not (reliably) the other way around. It would be a false economy to try to use the Woolies phone cable on your network.
But why aren't you going wireless anyway?
Answers:
thanks - just what I figured. Woolies Wire was a temporary measure - Almost every electrical shop I know have become a mobile phone shops and its surprisingly hard to find stuff.
I'll have to get some online
One more thing - what about the categories available. (cat 5e/6 etc)?
Answers:
CAT5 cable will be perfectly good for any current home setup, and is what's used in most office LAN wiring.
CAT5e (the "e" stands for enhanced) is slightly higher quality. Not required for round the house wiring, but is becoming the current standard. It#ll probably be higher priced.
CAT6, last I looked, had actually yet to be ratified (correct me if I'm wrong, someone!). It's rated for a higher frequency bandwidth - ie it's better quality :)
Just make sure that when you buy your cables that you check whether they are "straight" or "crossover". For most applications you'll want straight cables, but check your manuals (for instance if you have a broadband router, check it's manual) to see if crossover cables are needed.
PC World stock cables for just this kind of application. You could also try RD Components - that's where a lot of techie tradesman types would source their cables.
Wireless is the catch-all answer to each of your questions, though! ;)
Hope that helps,
B
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thanks
Answers:
ooops - I meant "RS components":
B
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I've found out where my local pc world is and will go there tomorrow.
I'll probally buy the best I can find as Its probably a false economy to pay for high-speed broadban then pipe it through cheap wires.
Just out of curiosity though - Why is so cheap?
Answers:
If you have a large B&Q near you, they will be cheaper for Cat5 cables than PCW. They also offer a 'networking kit' (50m of cable and 4 outlets and patch cables) for £35. and search for 'patch cable' in Computer & Networking Accessories.
If you have a local PC shop, they will probably make up cables to the length you want and still be cheaper than PCW.
If you have a local Maplins they will be cheaper too.
The eBay price is about what I would pay for that length of cable when bought in bulk (or when 'acquired' from work ).
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If you have a large B&Q near you, they will be cheaper for Cat5 cables than PCW
Didn't know they'd stock it - one just down the road!!
thanks
Answers:
CAT6, last I looked, had actually yet to be ratified (correct me if I'm wrong, someone!). It's rated for a higher frequency bandwidth - ie it's better quality :)
I *think* Cat6 has now been ratified - from memory the basic differences are that all 8 cables are used in Cat6 wiring, it is manufactured to a higher spec, and supports Gigabit Ethernet (1000MBPS as opposed to the 'current' 100MBPS) at higher speeds than Cat5e.
But you are quite correct - Cat 5 is fine for home use. :)
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Didn't know they'd stock it - one just down the road!!
They don't all stock it, but for the potential saving involved, consider buying online from them.
Answers:
You'll probably find that just about everywhere stocks Cat5e, it's pretty much standard, Cat5 isn't seen much anymore to be honest.
Also, Cat5e actually already supports Gigabit ethernet.
I was wondering where you actually use the woolies cable? since you say it was quite thin telephone cable and the jacks fitted I'm wondering if they were in fact RJ11 plugs?
These are a bit smaller than RJ45 and only have 6 pins, not 8. They will fit in the jacks though.
Since you also mention broadband I'm thinking that maybe you use this cable between say a microfilter and modem, rather than in an actual ethernet network. Is this correct?
If so then you don't need Cat5 cable at all..
Answers:
Hi
the cable was indeed used for a short period of time to connect the modem to the filter.
I'm about to network two computers with a router so I need something to connect everything up. To cope with the two computers I'm also upgrading to 1Mbps broadband.
Answers:
Hi,
You're right to look for ethernet cable to network the computers, telephone cable won't be up to the job as LincsLad has already mentioned, as for a connection between a filter and modem, no requirement for ethernet cable there although it never hurts to use a cable that's technically too good for the job.
The only reservation I'd have about the connection between the filter and modem is not to use flat cable unless it's really short, maybe 1 or 2 metres maximum, since the pairs are not twisted it won't provide any imunity to induced noise and this type of cable is often stranded rather than solid and the signal attenuation is much higher.
A good quality twisted pair telephone cable will easily meet Cat3 standards (10Mb/s) and so your 1Mb/s link is well within it's capabilites. It's also a bit easier to get an RJ11 socket on it since it's a little thinner than most Cat5 cable.
Most plug in type microfilters only accept RJ11 plugs, not the larger RJ45 which you get on Cat5 leads, the faceplate type filters accept either though.
Hope some of this info helps.
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thanks for everyones help
Computers now set up with the router using good quality 5e cable.
now if I could just figure out how to share files between computers.....
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...now if I could just figure out how to share files between computers.....
Can all the computers SEE all the other computers on the network? Go into Network Connections and select Windows Networks to see all connected.
After that you have to go to the computer holding the files and tell it to share a particular folder... are you running WinXP? Right-click on the folder you want to share and select the "sharing & security" option. Then enable sharing for that folder.
Note: You can't share the root level of your system drive (e.g. C:\), however other drive letter folders and sub folders on the main system drive can be shared.
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hi
I got it working.
Had to allow access the right ports (137-139) on my firewall - Firewall should have been the first thing I checked but ended up being the last
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... but sometims the firewall still rejects the ping
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Some firewalls can be set to accept/reject pings.
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I have Mcafee personal firewall plus and there is an option to allow pings. But how safe is it to accept pings?
I also have Norton Security 2004 that I got for free about a month ago but I've never gotten around to installing it