Cat.5,Cat.3

[stevebea]

Question for the guys that do alot of networking. The other day I saw a Cat.3 RJ45 port installed on a Cat.5e system. I'm guessing the installer ran out of Cat.5e ports and just wanted to wrap it up or either installed it unknowingly but I had to wonder if there would be a noticeable difference in performance using that port or whether it would have little effect. Opinions?

 

[Open Neutral]

Chances are you will be the only one to ever know.

 

[egnlsn]

If it's ever certified, it won't pass. If they use it, it may work, but at a degraded level of performance.

 

[sameguy]

It will work, think dialup not RoadRunner.

 

[Open Neutral]

Ed is right, it won't pass an examination. But testing...

CAT 5 (or whatever..) is designed so that Jill Cableyanker & Jack Holebasher can install the cable and the ends, and as long as they follow every rule, it shall pass the tests.

But on oh 96% of the real world apps, the cable is not the max spec'ed distance, but less. And they may do a better job on terms than the minimum. And maybe they bought Beldon cable, not "BarelyPassesCableCrooks" brand. Each of those gets you more headroom to make up for a slightly poor jack.

And that assumes the jack is inferior. It might be a CAT N jack, made on the CAT N line, but marked N-1 to sell at a lower price point...

That does not make it right; but unless you are installing it at Fukushima Daiichi, it's unlikely to kill anyone....