Today, Kansas Broadband Internet (KBI) announced it is moving ahead with the construction of its own WiMAX network with PureWave as the exclusive hardware provider. The finished network will cover 18 counties, and more than 12,000 square miles. With only 33 residents per square mile, Kansas is one of the United States’ ten least densely populated states.

In such sparsely populated areas, WiMAX is an economical solution for reaching the most residents with the least amount of infrastructure. KBI today said that a single base station with six antennas can deliver a 15-mile range of service.

“As we migrate our wireless network from proprietary equipment to more advanced and capable mobile WiMAX technology, we need a solution that is powerful, simple to deploy, easy to maintain and cost effective all at the same time,” said Lee Miller, President and CEO of KBI. “We…are now able to deliver such advanced services as streaming video to customers located 7.5 miles away from the base station in a non-line of site environment. We are reaching customers we were never able to serve before.”

Instead of deploying in rural areas, Sprint and Clearwire thus far have concentrated on deploying WiMAX in urban areas and major air travel hubs. Sprint Nextel’s very own hometown is Kansas City, and the telecommunications company is the number one employer of Kansas residents (according to the Kansas City Business Journal Book of Lists, 2007.) The company has still not officially provided a launch date for Kansas City’s WiMAX network. In all likelihood, the Sprint 4G network will launch well before KBI’s WiMAX network, possibly as early as this summer.

The Simple Answer:
CAT-5 is rated to 100M
CAT-5e is rated to 350M
CAT-6 and CAT6e is rated to 550M or 1000M depending on your source
CAT-7 is supposedly rated to 700M or presumably 1000M

Today there is no approved CAT-6 or CAT-7. While some folks are selling products they call Level 6 or 7, there aren’t even specs for them, making CAT-5e the best available option. CAT-6 cable is being made with 23 guage conductor wire as opposed to the slightly smaller 24 guage for CAT-5e and also has a separator to handle crosstalk better.

Both CAT-5 and CAT-5e have 100 ohm impedance and electrical characteristics supporting transmissions up to 100 MHz. The differences between CAT-5 and CAT-5e show in all aspects of performance: capacitance, frequency, resistance, attenuation, and NEXT. CAT-5e components were designed with high-speed gigabit Ethernet in mind. While CAT-5 components may function to some degree in a gigabit Ethernet, they perform below standard during high-data transfer scenarios. CAT-5e cables work with ATM and gigabit speed products. Simply, if you are using a 100Mbps switch, get CAT-5e cable instead of CAT-5.

CAT-5e is formally called ANSI/TIA/EIA 568A-5 or simply Cat-5e (the e stands for ‘enhanced’). CAT-5e is completely backward compatible with current CAT-5 equipment. The enhanced electrical performance of CAT-5e ensures that the cable will support applications that require additional bandwidth, such as gigabit Ethernet or analog video.

2. What is the difference between the types of cable – UTP, Patch, Stranded, Solid…

UTP stands for Unshielded Twisted Pair. It is a cable type with pairs of twisted insulated copper conductors contained in a single sheath. UTP cables are the most common type of cabling used in desktop communications applications.

Stranded cable has several small gauge wires in each separate insulation sleeve. Stranded cable is more flexible, making it more suitable for shorter distances, such as patch cords.

Solid has one larger gauge wire in each sleeve. Solid cable has better electrical performance than stranded cable and is traditionally used for inside walls and through ceilings – any type of longer run of cable.

Patch Cables are made of stranded copper conductors for flexibility. This construction is great for the flexing and the frequent changes that occur at the wall outlet or patch panel. The stranded conductors do not transmit data signals as far as solid cable. The TIA/EIA 568A which is the governing standard regarding commercial cabling systems limits the length of patch cables to 10 meters in total length. Does that mean you can’t use stranded cable for longer runs? Not at all, we’ve seen installations running stranded cable over 100 feet with no problems – it’s just not recommended. This is why we don’t sell patch cables over 30 feet in length.

3. What is the difference between 10BASE-T, 100BASE-T and 1000BASE-T?

10BASE-T is the IEEE standard that defines the requirement for sending information at 10 Mbps on unshielded twisted-pair cabling, and defines various aspects of running Ethernet on this cabling.

100BASE-T is the IEEE standard that defines the requirement for sending information at 100 Mbps on unshielded twisted-pair cabling, and defines various aspects of running baseband Ethernet on this cabling.

1000BASE-T (also called gigabit Ethernet) is the IEEE standard that defines the requirement for sending information at 1000 Mbps on unshielded twisted-pair cabling, and defines various aspects of running baseband Ethernet on this cabling

Channel Performance Characteristics

4. What is a cross-over cable?

A cross-over cable is a segment of cable that crosses over pins 1&2 and 3&6. This cable is normally used to connect two PCs without the use of a hub, or can be used to cascade two hubs without using an uplink port. Some DSL modems require a crossover calbe to the PC or hub they are connected to.

5. What are the maximum lengths for cables?

For Solid UTP:
Fast Ethernet 100baseT 100 Meters (328 feet)
Twisted Pair Ethernet 10baseT 100 Meters (328 feet)

Recommended maximum lengths for Patch Cables made from stranded cable:
Fast Ethernet 100baseT 10 Meters (33 feet)
Twisted Pair Ethernet 10baseT 10 Meters (33 feet)

6. Is CAT-5e backwards compatible?

Yes it works with any 10BaseT or 100BaseT network cards and hubs.
CAT-5 is also upwardly compatible with CAT-5e, however your network throughput will only be as fast as the slowest part.

7. Can I run CAT-5e ethernet cable outside?

CAT-5e cable is not rated for outdoor use, however it can generally be used without a problem. If possible, run the cable through some kind of conduit to prevent moisture or an attractive site for lightning to strike. You should be able to find gray PVC conduit suitable for cable at any hardware store. Remember, 100 Meters is your max distance, without some kind of hub, bridge or amplification.

8. What is the operating temp for CAT-5e cable?

Operating Temp for CAT-5e cable: -10C to 60C

9. What is the difference between T568A and T568B wiring?

T568A and T568B are the 2 wiring patterns for 8 position RJ45 modular plug, both permitted under the TIA/EIA 568A wiring standards document. The only difference between the two pattern is that the pairs 2 (orange) and 3 (green) are interchanged.

All our cables use T568B standards.

10. What are the UL levels of cable?

There are three levels. General Purpose: UL1581; Riser: UL1666; and Plenum UL910. These numbers are all fire and safety rated.

11. What is EMI and how can you prevent it?

EMI stands for Electro-Magnetic Interference. It is potentially harmful to your communications system because it can lead to signal loss and degrade the overall performance of high-speed, CAT-5e cabling. EMI is interference in signal transmission or reception and is caused by the radiation of electrical or magnetic fields which are present near power cables, heavy machinery, or fluorescent lighting.

Avoiding EMI is as simple as not laying your network cable within 12″ of electrical cable, or if needed switching from UTP to more expensive shielded cable.

12. Just tell me what cable I need…

If you need patch cords up to 25 feet, use CAT-5e stranded cable for ease of flexibility.

If you are making linger runs or going through walls or ceilings, I’d go ahead and use the CAT-6 UTP (solid) cables – if that seems a bit expensive, then go with the CAT-5e UTP.

Before doing anything else, you are advised to check the computer’s IP configuration. Windows systems offer a command-line tool, called ipconfig, that lets you find out your computer’s IP configuration. The output of this command gives the IP configuration for each interface; a computer with two network cards and one wireless adapter has 3 interfaces each with its own configuration.

To view your computer’s IP configuration, simply enter the following command (Start/run):

cmd /k ipconfig /all

The output of such a command looks like this:

Windows IP Configuration
		Host name . . . . . . . . . . : CCM
		Primary DNS suffix . . . . . . :
		Node type . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcast
		IP routing enabled . . . . . . . . : No
		WINS proxy enabled . . . . . . . . : No
Ethernet adapter wireless network connection:
		Connection-specific DNS suffix:
		Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel(R) PRO/Wireless LAN
 2100 3A Mini PCI Adapter
		Physical address . . . . . . . . .: 00-0C-F1-54-D5-2C
		DHCP enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : No
		IP address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.3
		Subnet mask . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
		Default gateway . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1
		DNS servers . . . . . . . . . .  : 193.19.219.210
						   193.19.219.211
Ethernet adapter local area connection:
		Media status . . . . . . . . . : Media disconnected
		Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Broadcom 570x Gigabit Integrated
Controller
		Physical address . . . . . . . . .: 0F-0F-1F-CB-99-87

The above report shows that the computer has two network interfaces, one of which is wireless. The name of the machine on the network is CCM.

The Ethernet interface connected to the local area network (network card) is not active since the cable is disconnected, but the wireless adapter is configured.

Machines on a same network must use a same address range (with different addresses) and a same subnet mask. In the case of a local network, connecting machines that do not have routable IP addresses, so-called private address ranges must be used.

The default gateway refers to, when applicable, the IP address of the machine offering internet access. DNS servers.

The DNS servers must correspond to the organization’s DNS servers; most of the time these are the service provider’s DNS servers.

Testing the connection

To test the proper functioning of a network, there is a highly practical utility provided as a standard feature with most operating systems; this is the ping utility. Ping lets you send a data packet to a network computer and lets you evaluate the response time. The ping command is explained in detail at the following address:

• Network tools – Ping command

To test the network thoroughly, simply open a command-line window, then successively carry out the following steps:

• ping the loopback address (127.0.0.1), representing your computer:

  ping -t 127.0.0.1

• ping the IP addresses of the network’s computers, for example:

  ping -t 192.168.0.3

• ping the computer names, for example:

  ping -t Mickey

• ping the computer used as gateway on the local area network, that is, the computer sharing its internet connection. It usually has the address 192.168.0.1:

  ping -t 192.168.0.1

• ping the service provider’s gateway. The address of the service provider’s gateway can be retrieved using the ipconfig command on the computer being used as gateway on the local area network;
• ping the service provider’s name servers . The address of the service provider’s DNS servers can be retrieved using the ipconfig command on the computer being used as gateway on the local area network;
• ping a machine on the internet network, for example:

  ping -t 193.19.219.210

• ping a domain name, for example:

  ping -t www.commentcamarche.net

If all this works, your network is ready to be used!

Again, please bear with me… Let’s start with simple pin-out diagrams of the two types of UTP Ethernet cables and watch how committees can make a can of worms out of them. Here are the diagrams:

Note that the TX (transmitter) pins are connected to corresponding RX (receiver) pins, plus to plus and minus to minus.  And that  you must use a crossover cable to connect units with identical interfaces.  If you use a straight-through cable, one of the two units must, in effect, perform the cross-over function.

Two wire color-code standards apply: EIA/TIA 568A and EIA/TIA 568B. The codes are commonly depicted with RJ-45 jacks as follows (the view is from the front of the jacks):

If we apply the 568A color code and show all eight wires, our pin-out looks like this:

Note that pins 4, 5, 7, and 8 and the blue and brown pairs are not used in either standard.  Quite contrary to what you may read elsewhere, these pins and wires are not used or required to implement 100BASE-TX duplexing–they are just plain wasted.

However, the actual cables are not physically that simple.  In the diagrams, the orange pair of wires are not adjacent.  The blue pair is upside-down.  The right ends match RJ-45 jacks and the left ends do not.  If, for example, we invert the left side of the 568A “straight”-thru cable to match a 568A jack–put one 180° twist in the entire cable from end-to-end–and twist together and rearrange the appropriate pairs, we get the following can-of-worms:

This further emphasizes, I hope,  the importance of the word “twist” in making network cables which will work.  You cannot use an flat-untwisted telephone cable for a network cable.  Furthermore, you must use a pair of twisted wires to connect a set of transmitter pins to their corresponding receiver pins.  You cannot use a wire from one pair and another wire from a different pair.

Keeping the above principles in mind, we can simplify the diagram for a 568A straight-thru cable by untwisting  the wires, except the 180° twist in the entire cable, and bending the ends upward.  Likewise, if we exchange the green and orange pairs in the 568A diagram we will get a simplified diagram for a 568B straight-thru cable.  If we cross the green and orange pairs in the 568A diagram we will arrive at a simplified diagram for a crossover cable.  All three are shown below.