Gigabit LAN - Computing and Networks

anniebrion · 29-11-2009, 16:37

If I attach a device to a Gigbit switch with CAT5 what speed will I get (the device has a max speed of 300Mb) and do I need to upgrade all my cabling to CAT6?

chiller15 · 29-11-2009, 16:46

Standard CAT5 cannot handle gigabit speeds. You'd need CAT5e or CAT6 cables. Either way, when transferring data, it can only travel at the speed of the slowest device or cable.

anniebrion · 29-11-2009, 16:57

I've seen on google that you need CAT6/6e/7 for Gigabit and 5e is only rated for 350Mbps. Also you have to be careful with the other cables types as they go from 500Mbps to 1000Mbps. Why did they not make it easier

Anyhow thanks, I don't think I'll bother re-wiring at this time as it is a RPITA

Pugwash69 · 29-11-2009, 16:59

Cat5e is sufficient. I pretty much guarantee you won't max it out with anything you stick on either end.

flagpole · 29-11-2009, 17:01

it really depends how long the cable is.....

anniebrion · 29-11-2009, 17:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pugwash69

Cat5e is sufficient. I pretty much guarantee you won't max it out with anything you stick on either end.

I just checked and I have CAT5

No big deal I was just wondering if I could squeeze a bit more speed out of my 802.11n AP and the Gigabit LAN cards in my PCs

chiller15 · 29-11-2009, 17:08

CAT5e can sufficiently handle gigabit, just as long as you don't have poor quality cables. If you're on about your home network, it might be worth upgrading to CAT5e or CAT6. They aren't particularly expensive.

Pugwash69 · 29-11-2009, 17:10

You'll see less contention between devices on a switch anyway, which will improve things.
All of mine claim to be connected at 1Gb/s on Belkin Cat5e, so you might have good enough cable that's just not certified.

flagpole · 29-11-2009, 17:12

i believe gigabit was originally spec'd to work on cat5

anniebrion · 29-11-2009, 17:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiller15

CAT5e can sufficiently handle gigabit, just as long as you don't have poor quality cables. If you're on about your home network, it might be worth upgrading to CAT5e or CAT6. They aren't particularly expensive.

It's not the cost, it's the agro, as some of the cable goes from the loft room to below and the cable is not easily accessible without dismantling the floor

chiller15 · 29-11-2009, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by anniebrion

It's not the cost, it's the agro, as some of the cable goes from the loft room to below and the cable is not easily accessible without dismantling the floor

Ah, yeah, I thought about that after I posted. But it might be worth it, if you could ever get around to it. :P

Loobster · 29-11-2009, 20:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiller15

Standard CAT5 cannot handle gigabit speeds. You'd need CAT5e or CAT6 cables.

Correct.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anniebrion

I just checked and I have CAT5

Unlikely - you haven't been able to buy CAT5 for years. Stuff sold in the past few years as CAT5 is actually CAT5e. Unless your cabling is quite old, it's CAT5e.

Quote:

Originally Posted by flagpole

i believe gigabit was originally spec'd to work on cat5

Nope, CAT5e, not CAT5.

anniebrion · 29-11-2009, 21:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loobster

Unlikely - you haven't been able to buy CAT5 for years. Stuff sold in the past few years as CAT5 is actually CAT5e. Unless your cabling is quite old, it's CAT5e.

Very likely and true as this is not new cable but the cable I've had installed for over 5 years and the cable has CAT5 printed down it repeatedly.

Loobster · 29-11-2009, 22:06

Yes but that's what I'm telling you - even stuff that is labelled as CAT5 could be 5e.

Don't you have two PCs with gigabit ethernet in that you could test a file transfer with?

anniebrion · 29-11-2009, 22:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loobster

Yes but that's what I'm telling you - even stuff that is labelled as CAT5 could be 5e.

Don't you have two PCs with gigabit ethernet in that you could test a file transfer with?

What even 5year old+, I don't think 5e existed when I purchased my cables

I don't have 2 Gigabit PCs yet

Appleseed · 30-11-2009, 11:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loobster

Yes but that's what I'm telling you - even stuff that is labelled as CAT5 could be 5e.

Don't you have two PCs with gigabit ethernet in that you could test a file transfer with?

Are there hard disks or flash drives that can handle data transfers of that speed?

Alan F · 30-11-2009, 19:05

Remember that the specs for these cables refer to long lengths

(Cat 5 100M, Cat 5e 350M, Cat 6 550M)

Unless you are living in a mansion it is likely that the actual cable lengths are much shorter, maybe 10-15M max, thus you will get better performance from existing cables than you would expect from the markings on the cables.

Also these are minimum specs that the cables must meet and there is no way of telling by how much they exceed the nominal spec.

So, try the existing cables, and only rip up you floor if you actually need something better.

Loobster · 30-11-2009, 20:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Appleseed

Are there hard disks or flash drives that can handle data transfers of that speed?

Not to max out 1Gb/sec...unless it's a RAID array in a PC/server, or a very new SSD device.

But a modern hard drive can supply data at about 500Mbit/sec (60 MB/sec), so much more than 'fast' ethernet speeds of 100Mbit/sec.

29-11-2009, 16:37	#1
anniebrion Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Gender: Female Location: UK Posts: 7,885	Gigabit LAN If I attach a device to a Gigbit switch with CAT5 what speed will I get (the device has a max speed of 300Mb) and do I need to upgrade all my cabling to CAT6?

29-11-2009, 16:46	#2
chiller15 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Gender: Male Location: Liverpool Services: Sky+, VM 10Mb, Q6600, 4GB DDR2, 74GB Raptor, 8800GTX, X-FI Posts: 1,067	Standard CAT5 cannot handle gigabit speeds. You'd need CAT5e or CAT6 cables. Either way, when transferring data, it can only travel at the speed of the slowest device or cable.

29-11-2009, 16:57	#3
anniebrion Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Gender: Female Location: UK Posts: 7,885	I've seen on google that you need CAT6/6e/7 for Gigabit and 5e is only rated for 350Mbps. Also you have to be careful with the other cables types as they go from 500Mbps to 1000Mbps. Why did they not make it easier Anyhow thanks, I don't think I'll bother re-wiring at this time as it is a RPITA

29-11-2009, 16:59	#4
Pugwash69 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Gedney Drove End Services: Freeview, Freesat, ADSL 8Mb/s Posts: 1,556	Cat5e is sufficient. I pretty much guarantee you won't max it out with anything you stick on either end.

29-11-2009, 17:01	#5
flagpole Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: london Services: N97-1 vod, O2 BB 8meg, digihome PVR, W7-64 - addicted to World of Goo Posts: 15,131	it really depends how long the cable is.....

29-11-2009, 17:08	#7
chiller15 Forum Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Gender: Male Location: Liverpool Services: Sky+, VM 10Mb, Q6600, 4GB DDR2, 74GB Raptor, 8800GTX, X-FI Posts: 1,067	CAT5e can sufficiently handle gigabit, just as long as you don't have poor quality cables. If you're on about your home network, it might be worth upgrading to CAT5e or CAT6. They aren't particularly expensive.

29-11-2009, 17:10	#8
Pugwash69 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Gedney Drove End Services: Freeview, Freesat, ADSL 8Mb/s Posts: 1,556	You'll see less contention between devices on a switch anyway, which will improve things. All of mine claim to be connected at 1Gb/s on Belkin Cat5e, so you might have good enough cable that's just not certified.

29-11-2009, 17:12	#9
flagpole Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: london Services: N97-1 vod, O2 BB 8meg, digihome PVR, W7-64 - addicted to World of Goo Posts: 15,131	i believe gigabit was originally spec'd to work on cat5

29-11-2009, 22:06	#14
Loobster Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Services: Windows 7 x64, Q6700, 8GB DDR2, 1TB Spinpoint, GeForce 8600GTS Posts: 10,063	Yes but that's what I'm telling you - even stuff that is labelled as CAT5 could be 5e. Don't you have two PCs with gigabit ethernet in that you could test a file transfer with?

30-11-2009, 19:05	#17
Alan F Forum Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 285	Remember that the specs for these cables refer to long lengths (Cat 5 100M, Cat 5e 350M, Cat 6 550M) Unless you are living in a mansion it is likely that the actual cable lengths are much shorter, maybe 10-15M max, thus you will get better performance from existing cables than you would expect from the markings on the cables. Also these are minimum specs that the cables must meet and there is no way of telling by how much they exceed the nominal spec. So, try the existing cables, and only rip up you floor if you actually need something better.