1000BaseT on CAT-5?

Not quite. CAT5 and CAT5e (enhanced) are the same thing, except CAT5e has a more defined product specification (ANSI/TIA/EIA 568A-5). CAT5e has many operational characteristics that are standardized by 568A-5 that were never defined by plain CAT 5 (PS-NEXT, ELF-NEXT, PS-ELFNEXT, delay skew, etc.).

CAT5 and CAT5e look alike and are wired exactly the same. In fact, most of the CAT5 cable made today conforms to the 568A-5 standard, although it is not rated as such. CAT5e is also completely backward compatible with current CAT5 equipment.

You might consider CAT6 cable if your lines are to remain installed for many years. You don't want to install cable that'll just have to be upgraded in 18-36 months when newer, higher bandwidth standards are released.

RussS

Only Cat5e around here so it is a moot point.

jlambert

802.3ab
Specifies 1000BaseT Gigabit Ethernet over Cat 5e UTP cabling.
- Utilizes all four pairs of cable wires for transmission.
- Maximum segment length is 100 meters.

So how i'm i wrong? i said it uses all pairs and is called Cat5e.