Which wires are used in cat5

In the table below you can check Gigabit Ethernet cabling pinout. Nowadays several motherboards come with one on-board Gigabit Ethernet port. Some very high-end motherboards can even provide two Gigabit Ethernet ports. Depending on motherboard architecture, however, the Gigabit Ethernet may not achieve its 1. The problem is how the Gigabit Ethernet chip is connected to the system.

So, even though in theory Gigabit Ethernet can run fine on PCI bus, it is just to close to the bandwidth limit of the bus. How can one tell which bus Gigabit Ethernet chip is connected to?

There are three basic ways. The easiest way is to see if your motherboard is based on PCI Express bus. The third way is to go to the Gigabit Ethernet controller manufacturer website VIA, Marvell, 3Com, etc and look for the main specs for the model used on your motherboard.

The bus type should be discriminated there. This information is located on the motherboard specs page on the manufacturer website. Although Gigabit Ethernet original standard was developed for using standard Cat 5 cables, several companies recommend that Cat 5e cables to be used on Gigabit Ethernet networks for performance issues.

Asked 4 years, 10 months ago. Active 4 years, 10 months ago. Viewed 48k times. Improve this question. Tolsadus He's asking about the function of the wires, not the color. Add a comment. Active Oldest Votes. As you can read on Wikipedia page about "Category 5 cable" in "Applications" section: Cat 5 is also used to carry other signals such as telephony and video But let's get back to ethernet.

The additional pairs in fast ethernet networks may also be used for PoE Power over Ethernet , as you can read here: Power over Ethernet or PoE describes any of several standardized or ad-hoc systems which pass electric power along with data on twisted pair Ethernet cabling. Improve this answer. Community Bot 1. Learner Learner 1 1 silver badge 9 9 bronze badges.

The Overflow Blog. Does ES6 make JavaScript frameworks obsolete? Podcast Do polyglots have an edge when it comes to mastering programming It is suitable for office, datacentre and home connections where robustness is not an issue. However there are a number of scenarios where a more robust connector is needed - applications like audio visual, stage audio and lighting, etc where Ethernet is used need a much more robust connection.

To address this problem the Ethercon connector is used. As the Ethercon connector has a circular metal outer protection combined with the RG45 style inner, it provides the required connectivity wit the robustness required for applications like stage and other audio visual areas where Ethernet connections are required.

It is possible not only to obtain the Ethercon connectors on their own, but also ready made Ethercon leads as well. Although the wiring and the cable manufacture details may vary between the different cable categories, the basic connectivity remains the same. In this way Ethernet cables can be used reliably to make connections between items of equipment, etc. A summary of the signals carried and the relevant wires and connections is given in the table below:.

In the table, TX is transmitted data, and RX is received data. There are two standard RJ45 pinouts for the individual arrangement of the wire connections to the RJ45 connectors within an Ethernet cable: the TA and TB standards. One or other of the conventions should be followed, as this will ensure the required connectivity, although as it is just a colour convention and the same wires and pairs are connected to the same pins, it does not matter which one is followed.

In practice TB is the more commonly used, and therefore it is probably best to use this one. The standard used may also be indicated on the sheath of ready made Ethernet cables. There are a number of different configurations of cable that may be employed according to the equipment and the requirement. The most common type are the straight through cables which are wired in a 1 to 1 configuration.

However Cat-5 crossover cables are also required on occasions. Typically a Cat-5 cable used to connect a computer PC to a switch will be a straight through cable. However if two computers or two switches are connected together then a Cat5 crossover cable is used. Many Ethernet interfaces in use today are able to detect the type of cable, whether it is a straight through or crossover cable, and they are able to adapt to the required format.

This means that the requirement for Cat-5 crossover cables is less than it might otherwise be. When using Cat-5 Ethernet crossover cables, they are not marked with the fact that they are crossover cables.

Accordingly it is often wise to mark them to avoid confusion later. Often it is necessary to use long Ethernet cables, however there are limits to the distance over which the data can be reliably carried.

When long Ethernet cables are used, additional noise is picked up, and the data eventually becomes distorted by the cable. Lengths provided are those generally accepted as the maximum, but are not included in the IEEE standard. A variety of different cables of different types and Ethernet cable categories are seen connecting different Ethernet elements together - Ethernet routers, Ethernet switches, computers, network severs, etc.

Cat5, Cat5e and Cat6 are all seen. The cables use the cost efficient but effective RJ45 patch connector and using this, these Ethernet cables are able to link or patch multiple items of Ethernet based equipment together. On some occasions where specialised connectivity is needed crossover cables may be required - these sold be clearly marked as such as they may get used elsewhere unknowingly and cause the connection not to work. Apart from this, using Cat 5, Cat5e, Cat 6, Cat 7 and now Cat 8 Ethernet cables is very easy and there are normally very few issues.

Typical Ethernet cable supplied with many computers, routers, etc Ethernet cable basics The Ethernet cables for connectivity in most office and home environments rely on twisted wire pairs within an overall cable - Cat 5, Cat 6 and Cat 7 all used this format.

Flat Ethernet cable and connector There are different methods that can be used for shielding Ethernet cables. Stranded cable: This type of wire is more flexible and it is more applicable for Ethernet cables where the cable may be moved - often it is idea for patch leads at desks or general connections to PCs, etc where some movement may be needed and expected.