[SOLVED] Can I use a 5 Pair Telecom Cable for a 100 Mbps connection?

[PraKriPa]

My house is wired with Cat5e ethernet cables with one port in each room. However, the port in my room is inconveniently located. There is however, a 5 Pair Telecom Cable (Exactly like this : https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/5-pair-telephone-armored-cable-7533028712.html) that comes right to my desk. I connected 4 of the 10 wires of the telecom cable to a Cat 5e ethernet cable. The connection was successful, but, I have been getting only 10Mbps link speed. My laptop is fine, it connects to other 100/1000 Mbps ports perfectly, so that possibility is ruled out. Last I checked, all it takes is 4 wires for a 100Mbps connection right? I tried to connect 8 out of 10 too, but the wires aren't paired and twisted tight enough to accurately identify the right pair. Hence I went ahead with just 4 colored connections.
Is there anything I can do to improve the link speed? I'd be immensely grateful for your help.

 

[SamirD]

The wire you have will at best only transfer 10Mbps. However, if you use a vdsl ethernet extender, you can get full 100Mbps over it. I've used these with success:
https://www.netsys-direct.com/colle...it-managed-vdsl2-ethernet-extender-nv-700ekit

But a much, much easier and cheaper way to do this would be to simply put a small switch near that port so your laptop has a port and then run a cable over to your pc--much faster and much, much cheaper.

 

[bill001g]

The key difference that makes a cable cat5e or cat3 or even cat6a is the way the wires are twisted. The wire itself generally is the same but the twisting of the pairs is what makes it function. At very short distances you can get pretty much any wire to run even at gigabit speeds if you are lucky. Without the proper twists in the wire the tiny voltages they use get out of usable values very quickly. Even if you were to use proper ethernet cable if you do not keep the pairs that are twisted together correct it will not work.

Pretty much you are lucky even 10mbps works.

Although the proper jack is inconvenient it may be worth the effort to run a cable. All depends on the details. Most rooms with carpet there is enough room under the baseboard between the edge of the carpet and the wall to hide a ethernet cable.

 

[PraKriPa]

The wire you have will at best only transfer 10Mbps. However, if you use a vdsl ethernet extender, you can get full 100Mbps over it. I've used these with success:
https://www.netsys-direct.com/colle...it-managed-vdsl2-ethernet-extender-nv-700ekit

But a much, much easier and cheaper way to do this would be to simply put a small switch near that port so your laptop has a port and then run a cable over to your pc--much faster and much, much cheaper.

Thanks for the reply, I guess I might have to run an external cable after all.

 

[PraKriPa]

The key difference that makes a cable cat5e or cat3 or even cat6a is the way the wires are twisted. The wire itself generally is the same but the twisting of the pairs is what makes it function. At very short distances you can get pretty much any wire to run even at gigabit speeds if you are lucky. Without the proper twists in the wire the tiny voltages they use get out of usable values very quickly. Even if you were to use proper ethernet cable if you do not keep the pairs that are twisted together correct it will not work.

Pretty much you are lucky even 10mbps works.

Although the proper jack is inconvenient it may be worth the effort to run a cable. All depends on the details. Most rooms with carpet there is enough room under the baseboard between the edge of the carpet and the wall to hide a ethernet cable.

Hey thanks for the response, and as you rightly said, my first doubt was the twisty, or rather not-so-twisty wires too. It was way too convenient to use the telecom cable where I need it, hence I was hopeful. Regardless, thanks for the help. I might run an external cable after all.

 

[vov4ik_il]

What you can try to do is tie a steel cable to what you have and pull it, then pull cat6 with the steel cable.