# Wiring 2 CAT5 Receptacles



## foodstr2 (Jul 5, 2008)

I'm trying to run a CAT5 cable from my home office to my new warehouse addition outside, about 150 feet away.

I have a 12-strand, solid-wire cable and am trying to use the 8 strands for the CAT5, and 2 for phone and 2 for fax. The phone line and the fax line work fine.

I wired a CAT5 receptacle at each end of the run and intend to plug a male network cable from our router into the office receptacle and a PC NW cable into the warehouse end. (That would make the total cable run 162 feet. As I understand it, max cable length for CAT5 is 328 feet.)

There is ONE splice in the outdoor run, made using ScotchLoks.

I checked continuity for each of the 8 wires and each is continuous. But my PC doesn't recognize that a NW cable is plugged into it.

I wired the receptacles 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3 to 3 ... 8 to 8. Is this correct? (I can't use color codes b/c they're different from the receptacles.) Or should it be 1 to 8, 2 to 7, etc.? or some other configuration?

Thanks for your help!

Bruce Hopkins
Quinlan, TX


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

A cat 5 cable normally has 8 wires and NOT 12 as you have in your situation.

THE cable type is usually UTP or Universal twisted pair

How the cable is connected depends upon what you are connecting to.

A cable that connects a PC to another PC or a Router is known as crossed
A PC or a Router to a Switch or HUB is usually known as straight.
Never exceed a distance of ~100meters between devices and try to avoid splicing cables.

check out this site here
http://www.duxcw.com/digest/Howto/network/cable/cable5.htm

where they tell you how to make your own cables 










don't get confused with the above drawings since the pins 4 & 5 are usually connected ( Blue & Blue-White ) and were originally assigned for the phone connections, stopping at the wall socket.

here is a view from the same site of the physical connections








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I would suggest that you read the whole article and then ask any other questions you may have


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

Do NOT try to use some other type of cable for an Ethernet connection. CAT5/5e/6 has specific impedance specifications that must be observed if you expect the network connection to work!


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## foodstr2 (Jul 5, 2008)

If it's 24 gauge solid wire, why would it matter? Is some special "impedance" built into a CAT5 cable?


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

think of it this way .. a piece of wire hangs off of most radios as an aerial. The length is related to the frequency. if the length is wrong you get a higher impedance to the frequency that you may be trying to tune in to!

A pair of wires, running parallel to each other, acts as a transformer depending upon the length and frequency of voltage that is running down one wire. When they are twisted around each other as well this alters the impedance and frequency characteristic. There is also a very small capacitance that is built up between the wires , regardless of whether they are twisted together or not. The insulation material, distance between the wires and the cross sectional area of the wire define what the overall capacitance is per meter .. so when you are thinking "just a piece of wire" you'd better take into account the use, the frequency, the length, the insulation material and the diameter. Even in cases of DC ie no frequency one has to be careful of choice because of application .. it may act like an aerial attracting a signal that will be injected into the equipment you want to use it on.


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## johnwill (Sep 26, 2002)

foodstr2 said:


> If it's 24 gauge solid wire, why would it matter? Is some special "impedance" built into a CAT5 cable?


You don't seriously think that you can take any wire that's 24 gauge and successfully use it in a network environment, do you?


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