Learn About How Long Can A Cat5 Cable Be

Learn About How Long Can A Cat5 Cable Be

Hi. The advantage of using cables is that it provides a much faster speed than wireless networks. The answer to how long can a cat5 cable be being 90m or 295 ft in length. Cables with a longer length are available too, but these are not suggested as problems arise with them at a later stage. A cable with a longer length must be a fiber optic cable. However, if you are using a cable in the range of 295ft to 590 ft, then repeater is the best option which can be a switch or a hub. Ensure that cables on both sides of the repeater are equal in length. If the length of the cable exceeds 590 ft, then, a fiber optic cable should be used. This fiber optic cable can be protected using an armored fiber optic cable.

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Learn About How Long Can A Cat5 Cable Be

If you want to setup a local area network, the maximum length that a CAT-5 cable can have is 100 meters. This is what the CAT-5 Ethernet specification rules. In case you need to install a cable longer than 100 meters, you need to install a repeater, like for example a hub or a switch, which allows you to extend the total length.

Also, you should be aware that there is a rule for this kind of scenario. It is called the 5-4-3 rule. The rule dictates that you can have a maximum of five segments with four repeaters where three segments are allowed to populate. The diagram above will explain it. In the diagram, there are five segments (Seg1, Seg2, Seg3, Seg4, and Seg5).

These five segments are connected via four repeaters (R) and only three segments are populated (Seg1, Seg3, and Seg5). On the other hand, the main advantage of cables or wired connection over wireless network is stability. In a wired connection, you have a steady and stable connection. You will not have fluctuations on the speed.

But with a wireless connection, you will have a variable speed because the connection depends mainly on the signal. The weaker the signal, the slower your connection can be.