Maximum network cable lengths. Doing my head in...

This is doing my nut in. I have 2 reels of Cat-5e cabling. One is stranded
the other is solid core. I have been making my own cables up for years. I
never have a problem.

But recently I've been having problems with cables of over 10m. The weird
thing it seems to be specific to the computer attached to the cable.

Today I was at a site; cut a 15m stranded network cable. Linked up my
laptop, everything works fine. Was getting about 500Mb/min transfer speed, a
few dropped packets when pinging. Plugged the same cable into the PC it was
intended for, and suddenly was getting 25% packet loss, completely unusable
internet and network connectivity. Tried plugging in an Apple laptop to the
cable, again, the cable was fine.

So I cut a solid-core cable. Tested on the Macs, everything was dandy. Tried
on the PC, absolutely hopeless. Cut a little 8m cable of solid core,
everything fine on the PC. But that was too short to route the cable neatly.

Now unless I'm very much mistaken I should be able to get 25m run of
stranded cables and 100m with solid-core cables. So what the chuff is going
wrong here?

Do different network cards have variable sensitivity, and if so, who makes
"long-range" network cards?

If anyone out there has made up really long network cables, please tell me
the secret, but I obviously don't know it.

I should note these cables are plugged into a cheapo ADL router. Is it
possible that it isn't "amplifying" enough?

"Bonge Boo!" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:BE9EC881.95809%(E-Mail Removed)...
> This is doing my nut in. I have 2 reels of Cat-5e cabling. One is stranded
> the other is solid core. I have been making my own cables up for years. I
> never have a problem.
>
> But recently I've been having problems with cables of over 10m. The weird
> thing it seems to be specific to the computer attached to the cable.
>
> Today I was at a site; cut a 15m stranded network cable. Linked up my
> laptop, everything works fine. Was getting about 500Mb/min transfer speed,
a
> few dropped packets when pinging. Plugged the same cable into the PC it
was
> intended for, and suddenly was getting 25% packet loss, completely
unusable
> internet and network connectivity. Tried plugging in an Apple laptop to
the
> cable, again, the cable was fine.
>
> So I cut a solid-core cable. Tested on the Macs, everything was dandy.
Tried
> on the PC, absolutely hopeless. Cut a little 8m cable of solid core,
> everything fine on the PC. But that was too short to route the cable
neatly.
>
> Now unless I'm very much mistaken I should be able to get 25m run of
> stranded cables and 100m with solid-core cables. So what the chuff is
going
> wrong here?
>
> Do different network cards have variable sensitivity, and if so, who makes
> "long-range" network cards?
>
> If anyone out there has made up really long network cables, please tell me
> the secret, but I obviously don't know it.
>
> I should note these cables are plugged into a cheapo ADL router. Is it
> possible that it isn't "amplifying" enough?
>

Cat5e can be run up to 90M and still produce good results, this is of course
dependant on how the ends are made off, you need to ensure that minimal
outer insulation is removed, pairs remain twisted right up to the point of
connection and you are using the correct wiring scheme (568B)

Solid Cat5e is generally used for a Structured Cabling infrastructure with
stranded being used for patch leads.

Have you tried changing your Network Card?

Andy MW0GUV

On 4/5/05 7:27 pm, in article d5b45a$1vc$(E-Mail Removed), "MW0GUV"
<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

>> Do different network cards have variable sensitivity, and if so, who makes
>> "long-range" network cards?
>>
>> If anyone out there has made up really long network cables, please tell me
>> the secret, but I obviously don't know it.
>>
>> I should note these cables are plugged into a cheapo ADL router. Is it
>> possible that it isn't "amplifying" enough?
>>
>
> Cat5e can be run up to 90M and still produce good results, this is of course
> dependant on how the ends are made off, you need to ensure that minimal
> outer insulation is removed, pairs remain twisted right up to the point of
> connection and you are using the correct wiring scheme (568B)
>
> Solid Cat5e is generally used for a Structured Cabling infrastructure with
> stranded being used for patch leads.
>
> Have you tried changing your Network Card?

No. Its the next port of call. But what I don't really understand is looking
at my ping statistics, certain machines appear to get fewer dropped packets
than others. Surely a network card is a network card, and as such they
should all be similiarly "sensitive" to crap or marginal cables?

"Bonge Boo!" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:BE9EDB6C.95820%(E-Mail Removed)...
> On 4/5/05 7:27 pm, in article d5b45a$1vc$(E-Mail Removed), "MW0GUV"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>
> >> Do different network cards have variable sensitivity, and if so, who
makes
> >> "long-range" network cards?
> >>
> >> If anyone out there has made up really long network cables, please tell
me
> >> the secret, but I obviously don't know it.
> >>
> >> I should note these cables are plugged into a cheapo ADL router. Is it
> >> possible that it isn't "amplifying" enough?
> >>
> >
> > Cat5e can be run up to 90M and still produce good results, this is of
course
> > dependant on how the ends are made off, you need to ensure that minimal
> > outer insulation is removed, pairs remain twisted right up to the point
of
> > connection and you are using the correct wiring scheme (568B)
> >
> > Solid Cat5e is generally used for a Structured Cabling infrastructure
with
> > stranded being used for patch leads.
> >
> > Have you tried changing your Network Card?
>
> No. Its the next port of call. But what I don't really understand is
looking
> at my ping statistics, certain machines appear to get fewer dropped
packets
> than others. Surely a network card is a network card, and as such they
> should all be similiarly "sensitive" to crap or marginal cables?
>

Your network is only as good as the infrastructure...Forget wireless it's a
farce. Install quality Cat5e cabling and all will be well.

Network cards are like the rest of the cheap mass produced PC related
products.....you get what you pay for

"Bonge Boo!" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:BE9EDB6C.95820%(E-Mail Removed)...

> No. Its the next port of call. But what I don't really understand is
> looking
> at my ping statistics, certain machines appear to get fewer dropped
> packets
> than others. Surely a network card is a network card, and as such they
> should all be similiarly "sensitive" to crap or marginal cables?

I am no expert but I have found differences with cheaper network cards.

In article <d5b9rh$3j7$(E-Mail Removed)>, "MW0GUV"
(E-Mail Removed) says...
>
> "Bonge Boo!" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:BE9EDB6C.95820%(E-Mail Removed)...
> > On 4/5/05 7:27 pm, in article d5b45a$1vc$(E-Mail Removed), "MW0GUV"
> > <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> >
> > >> Do different network cards have variable sensitivity, and if so, who
> makes
> > >> "long-range" network cards?
> > >>
> > >> If anyone out there has made up really long network cables, please tell
> me
> > >> the secret, but I obviously don't know it.
> > >>
> > >> I should note these cables are plugged into a cheapo ADL router. Is it
> > >> possible that it isn't "amplifying" enough?
> > >>
> > >
> > > Cat5e can be run up to 90M and still produce good results, this is of
> course
> > > dependant on how the ends are made off, you need to ensure that minimal
> > > outer insulation is removed, pairs remain twisted right up to the point
> of
> > > connection and you are using the correct wiring scheme (568B)
> > >
> > > Solid Cat5e is generally used for a Structured Cabling infrastructure
> with
> > > stranded being used for patch leads.
> > >
> > > Have you tried changing your Network Card?
> >
> > No. Its the next port of call. But what I don't really understand is
> looking
> > at my ping statistics, certain machines appear to get fewer dropped
> packets
> > than others. Surely a network card is a network card, and as such they
> > should all be similiarly "sensitive" to crap or marginal cables?
> >
>
> Your network is only as good as the infrastructure...Forget wireless it's a
> farce. Install quality Cat5e cabling and all will be well.

Nobody said anything about wireless.
>
> Network cards are like the rest of the cheap mass produced PC related
> products.....you get what you pay for
>
Some cheap cards are every bit as good as top brands, and IME if you
stick to one sort throughout you'll rarely have problems.

Bonge Boo! wrote:
> On 4/5/05 7:27 pm, in article d5b45a$1vc$(E-Mail Removed), "MW0GUV"
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
<snip>

>>Have you tried changing your Network Card?
>
> No. Its the next port of call. But what I don't really understand is looking
> at my ping statistics, certain machines appear to get fewer dropped packets
> than others. Surely a network card is a network card, and as such they
> should all be similiarly "sensitive" to crap or marginal cables?

Surely you are answering your own question? Your actions so far have
been good, and would seem to point to the NIC in the PC in question
being doubtful. In theory NICs are built to a 'standard' of some kind,
but production methods, quality control, etc. can vary so your card
might not up to snuff. They are quite cheap so I'd try another one.