Cat5e 100mhz -unsuitable for gigabit?

mayto · 15-07-2009 05:53PM #1

I got a roll of cat5e today for a friend and realised later it was rated at 100mhz. I have a home lan setup myself running at gigabit speeds over cat5e. Not sure whether my cat5e was 100mhz or 350mhz, but it works fine. Just wondering should I change it for 350mhz rated cable as it will be used for media straming etc.

zilog_jones · 15-07-2009 10:55PM

Cat 5e is rated for gigabit ethernet at up to 100 m. If it can't do gigabit ethernet it's not Cat 5e.

At the end of the day they're only specifications and it's just twisted pair copper cable, it'll either work or it won't. For <10 metres it probably won't matter. I've used Cat 3 for 100BASE-T with no problems before.

Dardania · 16-07-2009 08:01AM

the analagy i was told for comparing gigabit on cate5e vs. cat6 is:

imagine doing 100mph in an (old) mini vs. imagine doing it in a range rover. They'll both do it, but the mini rattling away, swaying a bit will keep dropping off from 100mph...

you can circumvent this by ensuring that you install the cable correctly (eg no harsh bends, don't stuff it too close to othercables to get crosstalk, terminate it correctly etc.)

Regarding your application for media streaming, blu-ray discs, at full 1080p with all the audio bells ad whistles can go up to about 30 - 40 MBps...so you should be well fine with your cat5e!

FusionNet · 16-07-2009 09:52AM

Just to add another point onto what the guys are saying. With your exisiting sytem you probably have it terminated and there are lights blinking or software saying you are running on gigabit. the reality is you may not be, so I wouldnt worry about 100mhz or 350mhz.

Another scary thing I read recently was that an independent board in the US tested a huge amount of "cat5e" and found it didnt perform as it should and also did not pass safety standars.

Id personally if I were you be more concerned about the brand than the mhz. If its a chinese one, best of luck!! Systemax, Panduit, Krone are all brands with huge backing, research and they have quality products.

Oh and to flesh out my point, unless you can test to gigabit standard you have no way of knowing if you have gigabit..

mayto · 17-07-2009 01:05AM

Cheers for replies folks. I just remember seeing somewhere cat5e running at 100mhz will only do 100mb. My home lan runs at about 40 MB/s and I am well happy with that. The cable I got is a good brand I used before so I trust it will work ok. The cable run could be about 60m so it will be interesting to see how it fares. Probably only running at 100mbit speeds for a while though.

zilog_jones · 17-07-2009 07:32PM

You should be able to measure dropped packets etc. in Windows somewhere (I forget where exactly though...), that should help you see how reliable the connection is. Some sort of free benchmarking or stress testing for networks probably exists too.

Cat5e 100mhz -unsuitable for gigabit?

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