This is for anybody that knows. Just a question. How long can a cat5 cable be?
I need to run a line up to the second floor bedroom. The router is down in the front of the house and i need to go to the back room.
Any other question,just ask me. Thanks John

You can make them any lengthyou want should not give you any problem my only Question is if your coming off a router usually you would need an ethernet cable at least all of my computers are tied together that way.

Officially you should not exceed a 100 yards or about 300 feet. You will see a slowdown that long though. I'd say try to keep them no more than 150.

I actually installed Cat5 and fiber for a living and Palf70Step is correct. 300' is the longest it can be and us to certify it for warranty replacement by the cable manufacturer. If your house is not too big and you have a wireless router then you could just get a wireless card and put it in the PC. I use wireless in my house but everything is on the same floor. Just thought I would add my two bits worth.

Thanks everyone,
It looks like I'll have the distance covered. I have a laptop that I took up to the location and the wireless did not pick up strong. Not enough to do anything with. So that is why I thought of just running a long cat cable. Could i just run a tv cable up to that location and hook up another router. Using the long cat5 off of the cable modem downstairs? Is the cable wire different than your regular cable wire?

Thanks again John

You can only use one Cable Modem since the cable company records the mac address and will only allow one per customer. At least that is how it is here. You will have to install the Cat5 from the current router to the room you want it to go to. If you want it to be really clean looking then use a cut-in ring and terminate the cable you pull into a faceplate on both ends in the walls. Then just get a couple of short Cat5 jumpers and connect one to the router and the other to the PC upstairs. If I was closer to ya I would be glad to help ya out. If you need the color code for the cable to terminate it then let me know how you are going to do it and I can tell ya what to use.

Thanks HotRod71,
What i plan to do is use the spare room upstairs. Run a long cat5 from the router in the front of the house. Going through the basement window and up the outside of the house through a hole i already have in the wall.

Where can i purchase about 150 or so yards of cat5? What is a cut-in ring?
Can you send me the color code for the cable and anything else i might need to run it upstairs. How about the end connectors that go in the router and go in to the back of the computer.
Thanks for the offer of helping me if you lived closer. I kinda sat back in my chair when i read that. Thanks very much.

John

John,
Running this outside is really not the best idea since this cable is not outdoor rated and the sun will break down the outer sheath. Now if you have a conduit you can put it in then that will work really well. You just don't want to strap it to, or run it in, a conduit that has electrical in it. The Cat5 will get interference from the electricity (cross-talk). But you gotta do with what ya got right? :D

You should be able to get the cable, and the RJ-45 connectors from Radio Shack. They should have the crimp tool also. If they don't then they should be able to recommend somewhere to get it. Maybe Home Depot or Lowe's will have the cable. If the route you are going to take will allow the connectors to fit through, then I can make up this cable for you and ship it with the connectors already on it. Not sure what it will cost but this way you will not have to buy the crimp tool that you will probably never use again.

I would be more than glad to help but it would be an 8+ hour drive one way. If you want to talk about it over the phone or have any other questions then PM me your # and I will call ya whenever ya have time.

Let me know what I can do to help.

Home depot or Lowes will have the cable. That's where I have bought it in the past. They have the crimpers and connectors, but they are pretty pricey. They are geared toward people who do it for a living. I seldom make cables, so I have like a $10 set of crimpers.

Slonaker

Thanks Slonaker,
Looks like i'll be going with the long cable idea.

John

Check out this deal:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CAT5E-300-30U&cat=NET

I have never ordered from them, but I have seen the kit recommended in several places. It is a good deal if the shipping is reasonable.

Slonaker

Thanks Slonaker,
Look just what i need to do. The shipping would be 10 bucks ground. How hard
is it the hook up the connectors using the crimpers?

John

Not too hard. Look around the internet and you should be able to find some decent instructions. The wires in it have to be pushed into the connector in a certain order, but they are all color coded. Cut your wire long, and keep doing it until it works. It took me several tries to get the hang of it, but then it was no problem.

Slonaker

EDIT: This looks helpful, but I am sure there ar others as well...

http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/ethernetcables.html

That is an excellent deal on the cable and all. Just make sure that when you crimp your RJ-45's on that you use the "Straight Through" setup. To be honest, the color code does not matter as long as it is the same on both ends. You actually only use the middle, 4 & 5, pins on these things.