# Does Cat5 Cable break down over time ?



## leachim (Aug 30, 2008)

I run a cable from a router for around 100m outside to a caravan.

It has been in place for a couple years no problem.

Half of it is between telegraph poles and the other half is overground in a plastic water pipe.

Suddenly stopped receiving signal from the router, so we changed the 2 plugs on the end - no difference.

Then made up a connector which joins wires 1+2, 3+4, 5+6 and 7 +8 and plugged it into one end of the wire.

Came back to the other end and ran an ohms meter between 1+2 etc and got an average reading of 84ohms

Tried the same measurement on a 100m of new cable and got a reading of 17ohms.

What does this mean ?

I had a similar problem with another cable to the caravan over 2 years ago which had been in place for 2 or 3 years ????


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

My guess water did it in. Replace it.

BG


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## leachim (Aug 30, 2008)

Could be - how about UV from the sun ?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

UV would affect the plastic cover and be visible to the naked eye


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## GentleArrow (Aug 10, 2015)

100m /328ft is the max length for Ethernet.


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

Please note it is generally considered poor forum etiquette to shotgun post your question across multiple sites. This is especially true if you fail to go back to each of those sites to post a followup with the resolution. 

I answered here: Does Cat5 Cable break down over time ? - Cyber Tech Help Support Forums

Others have answered these:
Fix Does Cat5 cable break down over time ?
https://forums.techguy.org/threads/does-cat5-cable-break-down-over-time.1170281/

There may be more.


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## leachim (Aug 30, 2008)

thankyou

:hide:


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## Techie19 (Feb 10, 2008)

GentleArrow said:


> 100m /328ft is the max length for Ethernet.


As stated by GentleArrow, this is the max distance limitation for copper. After this distance the signal begins to experience attenuation. Repeaters are used in places where the distance is greater than this. They regenerate the electrical signal in the copper to reach longer distances.

Its not recommended to run copper in the open which is subjected to the elements. In this case the telegraph poles and the water pipe.

I would recommend multimode (Orange 62.5 micron) fiber. The only thing is you will need two fiber-copper media converters, one for each end.

Here's a recommendation:

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...=fiber_media_converter-_-33-156-005-_-Product

You can also find some cheap ones used on eBay. With fiber especially you will want to run it through some kind of piping from house to caravan. Either some inner duct flex tubing or conduit piping.

This may seem a bit pricey, but will give you the best permanent results. Seems like you've had to revisit this issue multiple times. Most times is best to do it right the first time and not have to mess with it again.


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## Techie19 (Feb 10, 2008)

Sorry, just realized this went back to April 2016. I guess OP never posted follow up.


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## Bill_Bright (Dec 17, 2004)

> I guess OP never posted follow up.


He did, last April.


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## SFCable (Mar 21, 2017)

Those error occured in old, if you will try latest cables you won't face that issue.


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