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Question: Cat 5e cable length between devices

J

JPS

2[H]4U
Joined
May 2, 2001
Messages
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I have a project where I am building a custom enclosure for multiple network devices, including cable modem, router, 8-port giga-switch, and VoIP box. For the connections between the modem to router, router to to switch, and switch to VoIP, can I get away with using short patch cables, i.e. 8in or less, or do I need to adhere to the 3ft minimum spec and simply coil the excess out of the way? I would prefer to go short and tidy, but will happily forgo that if it will lead to performance issues down the line.
 
I've had people tell me they've fried ports with short cables, I'd just stick with 3 feet between devices.
 
JPS said:
Anyway to test if I am taking a performance hit, i.e. getting sub-optimal levels?
Click to expand...

Purchase tools. Like I said, "you may" get sub-optimal levels you may not. I think it can be difficult to test NEXT or FEXT on cables under 3ft, but you will need cable testing tools to perform most of the testing, or just go with it.

I could be wrong, most of the time you just wont get a signal.
 
Zlash said:
I've had people tell me they've fried ports with short cables, I'd just stick with 3 feet between devices.
Click to expand...

Fair enough - I will just coil the excess out of the way then...
 
I have never personally had problems with cables under 3 ft.
 
Muffin Man said:
Why do they have to be 3ft?

I always thought the shorter, the better.
Click to expand...

The "standard" has no minimum length...as far as something similar to the maximum length where going past that leads to issues.

The issue of having them less than 1 meter is because most testers a while ago could not properly test the pairs if less than 1 meter in length....so logically cables less than 1 meter just couldn't be tested properly.
 
I have a 1 foot crossover cable that I carry in my work bag.. I have used it to transfer data from one laptop to another serveral times with no problems.
This is interesting though, I have never heard anything about using cables that are too short.
 
from patch panel to switch i have 34 devices connected with 1ft patch cables, and theyre all Gb. after seeing this thread i swapped them out with 2m cables... no difference in speed.
 
d3c1us said:
from patch panel to switch i have 34 devices connected with 1ft patch cables, and theyre all Gb. after seeing this thread i swapped them out with 2m cables... no difference in speed.
Click to expand...

That would be expected....you should not see a performance difference if they are made well.
 
I believe the IEEE did set some sort of minimum spec for ethernet, I think it was actually 2 meters or so, but the docs are buried on their site. Some manufacturers recommended 1-3 meters, but I've done plenty of installations and still use shorter cables, though I never go under 1 foot. I've never had any issues with short cables.
 
Used tons of 1 footers without any problems. I would not go shorter as it's way too short.

Buy a proper cable and you should not have any issues.
 
d3c1us said:
from patch panel to switch i have 34 devices connected with 1ft patch cables, and theyre all Gb. after seeing this thread i swapped them out with 2m cables... no difference in speed.
Click to expand...

that's because there's more than 3ft between network devices (presumably).
A patch panel is a passive pass-through.
 
tdg said:
I believe the IEEE did set some sort of minimum spec for ethernet, I think it was actually 2 meters or so, but the docs are buried on their site. .
Click to expand...

I've yet to see any. I Googled it for quite some time...after reading this post...as I'd never heard of any actual "specs" stating minimum length.

Only people on forums "guessing"...which is as useless as tits on a nun.

The closest I found to "factual" via Google....was a few mentions at several cable manufacturers stating that there is a common belief pointing at shortest cable length...but only due to the inability to properly "test" cables shorter than a certain length a while ago with older testing tools.
 
Never heard of such a a thing. The only distance length that I can confirm is that you shouldn't run CAT5/6 over 100 meters.
 
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