minimum cat6 cable length?

[ducky2802]

Hi everyone,

Ive been running custom length cables between my modem, router, and gigabit switch, which are all about 3-4 inches apart.

Ive made a bunch of cat5 and cat6 cables in lengths from 3" to 3'.

Switch to router works fine with any size cat5/cat6 cable from 2" up to a few feet.
Router to modem with cat6 less than 24" doesnt work, but works okay with cat5 down to 6" lengths.

Im no networking expert by any means, but Im hoping someone out in thinkpad-land knows if there is a minimum I need to maintain (please, Im running out of bulk cable!).

[rkawakami]

Googling shows this: http://forums.bicsi.org/Topic2210-4-1.aspx 0.5 meters, or roughly 20" is the implied minimum length for Cat6 according to one poster.

2 inches????? I've made my own Cat5 cables but never less than 6 feet.

[ducky2802]

Thanks!!!!! Yeah, Ive been on an underdesk cleaning binge and the lan cables are on my shortlist.

[rkawakami]

Then you certainly don't want to see how my DSL modem (2 Wirespeeds actually; one is a backup), Netgear RT314 router, Netgear PS110 print server, Netgear switch and D-Link ( ) WRT54G WAP (Netgear ME102 is currently off-line due to a cat issue ) are all lashed together .

(And when I say "cat", it's not Cat5/Cat6 cabling I'm talking about... one of my felines got behind my desk and managed to pull out the AC brick for the ME102 from the wall outlet. There's no way I can reach down there and plug it back in. Might have to pull out my Gateway tower and see if I can reach through the back side of the desk....)

[BillMorrow]

i never thought there WAS a minimum length except that amount needed to reach from one RJ41 to the other RJ41..

and having just run a cat 5e from my router to the TV i can say that 117 feet (so says my cable tester) works just fine though now thatn i mention it i'm not sure what sure its running at..

my question would be "how close to AC wiring can you get and not have some sort of crosstalk spoil the signal..?

[ducky2802]

It sounds like I just might break down! haha, yep, Im running my belkin N router with a linksys wrt54G backup (those things just refuse to die!), two dlink switches and a motorola modem. It was a mess with wires everywhere! Now, everything looks nice and clean (I even splice the adaptors so 1 power adaptor for 2-3 network appliances) and except for the modem to router, everything is cat6 (though, for the 20ft to my server and the 1ft to most networking gear, I say its overkill, but I got a great deal on a 250' spool of cat6 cable!)

"my question would be "how close to AC wiring can you get and not have some sort of crosstalk spoil the signal..?"

Ive actually run power cables and network cables in a 1/2" split loom tubing for ~8ft together, and havent noticed any slowdowns doing a simple 100gb transfer between comp/server. And since Im broke after the computers, Ive got one machine across a few rooms on a 100' cat5 cable streaming HD and appears no signal loss on gigabit lan.

[killer]

I run my network through the house electricity ring main. It is quite simple and uses homeplugs. Look homeplugs up on any search engine. The ring main doesn't interfere with network signals.

[BillMorrow]

50 ~ (in UK) vs. whatever frequency the LAN runs at is not likely to interfere given all the filtering that must go on in the AC -> ethernet adapters..

i suppose i can give it a try..

meanwhile, aside from the security of a hardwired LAN, wifi is available too..
but this samsung TV won't accept a wifi USB dongle unless it is a samsung wifi USB dongle..

i did consider the AC wiring solution but the $200 initial price tag kinda put me off..

especially since i intend to run several video cameras..