Network 'CAT5' Cable

[Bungalow Boy]

I recently wired up CAT5 network cable to each room in my house from a central patch bay in the spare room. I have the covers for each outlet but don't know the correct wiring diagram. (ie. red wire to terminal 1, etc.). Does anyone have this information handy? I have short adapter leads so that the phone can pug in to any of them.

 

[Dave12345]

CAT 5/6 standard is
1 Orange
2 Orange / White
3 Green
4 Blue / White
5 Blue
6 Green / White
7 Brown
8 Brown / White

Make shore you only untwist just enough of the pairs to make the connections.

Dave

 

[TexMex]

1 Orange
2 Orange / White
3 Green
4 Blue / White
5 Blue
6 Green / White
7 Brown
8 Brown / White

Not that it matters, but, from my recollection the standard is:
1 Orange / White
2 Orange
3 Green / White
4 Blue
5 Blue / White
6 Green
7 Brown / White
8 Brown

As long as you keep the pairs together (note the split around the central pair) and you have the same at both ends, it will still be OK.

 

[AdamW]

Well, it all depends on WHICH wiring code you choose. There are two: EIA/TIA 568A and EIA/TIA 568B.

The 568A standard goes:

1 Green/white
2 Green
3 Orange/white
4 Blue
5 Blue/white
6 Orange
7 Brown/white
8 Brown

For the 568B standard, just swap the green pair with the orange pair (just read what Tex said )

It makes no difference which you use just so long as you are consistent throughout your installation.

 

[Dave12345]

1 Orange
2 Orange / White
3 Green
4 Blue / White
5 Blue
6 Green / White
7 Brown
8 Brown / White

Not that it matters, but, from my recollection the standard is:
1 Orange / White
2 Orange
3 Green / White
4 Blue
5 Blue / White
6 Green
7 Brown / White
8 Brown

As long as you keep the pairs together (note the split around the central pair) and you have the same at both ends, it will still be OK.

You are totaly correct got my solids and stripes in the wrong order

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

I wonder if new homes will be wired with cat 5 in the future??? It would make a lot of sense.

 

[TexMex]

I wonder if new homes will be wired with cat 5 in the future?

I don't think the prevalance of Cat5 will be as long lived as T&E. Perhaps fibre would be a better option?

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

I wonder if new homes will be wired with cat 5 in the future?

I don't think the prevalance of Cat5 will be as long lived as T&E. Perhaps fibre would be a better option?

Well, obviously if the network cabling is to be extended outside of the home (into a shed for example) then you should be using fibre!!!

 

[TexMex]

I suggest Fibre as, it is only a matter of time, before speeds in the GigaBit per second range, are going to be common place. Even in the home. Then a house floodwired with Cat5 will seem a bit, out of date. Rather like gas lights would be now.

 

[Igorian]

Lots of wireless setups appearing in the home. Also more public access points becoming available. I think all the hardwire solutions will eventually fade out.

 

[AdamW]

Cat-5 will never be prevalent throughout the home... especially seeing as it is pretty much obsolete at the moment (most new installs are Cat-5E or Cat-6 ) I have a Cat-6 network throughout my flat, but I will consider wireless for my next place.

There are many things against fibre in the home within the next few years:

1) Expense. Although this could reasonably be expected to decrease as demand increases, it will still be more expensive than copper

2) Need: the 10gbps ethernet over copper standard has already been approved. That's right, 10 gigabits per second. Not 1, but 10.

3) New technologies: faster and faster wireless systems are coming out all the time. My sister's new flat is receiving a 108mbps wireless network in the next couple of weeks. No hassle, no faff. If she wants to do some work in the living room on a laptop, there it is, on the network. Plus everything in Star Trek is wireless (they walk around with those palmtop things doing work) therefore wireless is cool.

4) Ease of installation: perhaps the crux. OK, so many of us have experience of plugging an SPDIF fibre from our DVD player to our home cinema system. It's easy. But how many of the sparks on this site have fibre experience? I doubt there are many. It is a fairly specialised job. Bend radii have to be adhered to strictly, otherwise the light stops reflecting inside as it should. Special tools are required. Current wired networking solutions for the home can be installed with the minimum of specialised equipment. An IDC punchdown tool and an RJ45 crimp tool... combined cost, £10-15.

By the time fibre is cheap enough to make it viable, we will all be using wireless for everything. Who wants to have to plug into the wall when you can wander around the garden with it?

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

I'm quite tempted to get myself a wireless lan card and see if I can connect to my brother in laws network (their house is virtually directly behind mine!)

I could save myself a fortune, I would cancel my landline/broadband/cable tv package and just connect through his network! Bit cheeky tho! But who needs a landlime aswell? 4 blinkin mobiles in the house!!!

I wonder if anyone in flats is doing the same thing???

 

[AdamW]

You probably could.

A mate of mine was setting up his new wireless network a few weeks back and detected a neighbour's network TOTALLY unprotected. He could see the computers on it and with very little effort would have been able to use their internet connection.

Apparently you can make a more directional antenna by using an empty Pringles can over your aerial, pointing the open end at the source. But instead of looking at this in a cheeky way, you could come to some agreement where instead of you both paying £20 a month for 500k access separately, you both chip in and get a 2mbit or whatever in one house, but you both access it. If the hardware is already there anyway then it doesn't really entail extra expense.

 

[TexMex]

I've been doing a bit of research into wireless networks over the last few weeks. I am going to attempt to connect my daughters new flat (about 1 mile away), so it will really be stretching the limits.

I gather a better result than the Pringles can is acheived with a home made Helical Antenna Check here for instructions

I have also found This site Looks like a good source for equipment (pigs tails etc.) They also specify the types of connectors on the wireless adapters.

I'll probably be tackling this in about a months time, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[AdamW]

I would be interested to see what you find. I remember reading an artical a couple of years ago where some guy homebuilt a radio system that allowed him to use his office T-pipe from half a mile or so.

I wonder what the rules are regarding these devices, would they require a licence with that kind of range? I guess they only rate communications devices on the radiated power rather than range, so if all that power is radiated in one direction you should be OK. And those little walkie talkies claim theoretical ranges of several km, don't they?