Quality Of Lan Cable/where To Get A Shielded Lan Cable?

[zappalot]

I need to set up a LAN cable connection with a length of 50 m.

For that I bought just a cheap LAN cable which is completely un-shielded.

Now sometimes there is a connection but it is very unstable. Smart phones or tablet computers are connected, but I cannot open any Internet websites. Notebooks and normal computers I can operate very slowly and with many interruptions.

Any device operated with a cable more short on the same router on the same outlet is working perfectly fine. So it must be the cable.

Today I wanted to buy a cable in another shop and then they set up the cable for me. Then I have seen that the cables inside are completely un-shielded as well.

So I didn't buy this cable.

Does anyone know where I can get a shielded cable here in Bangkok?

Edited May 26, 2013 by zappalot

[thaimite]

Normally network cables are unshielded and guaranteed (UTP Unshielded Twisted Pair) for 100Metres if correctly terminated. If you want shielded network cable you need to look for CAT6a or CAT 7 STP shielded Twisted pair. It wil; be hard to find and expensive.

The only tie this cable would be used in professional installations would be either high noise environments or when speeds in the order of 10Gbs are required. The older CAT5E or CAT6 are fine for 1GB/s speeds. I suggest your cable is poorly terminated or has other issues

[Tywais]

As stated above, unshielded twisted pair is good for 100 meters and is standard. I manage 3 facilities and all 100+ computers and devices are using UTP (CAT5e) and my Gigabit connection from the server to FO is CAT 6. Anytime there is an issue it has always been improperly terminated connectors. The symptom the OP shows could very well be that the wires are straight through, that is 1-1, 2-2, etc. This will produce cross talk and will get worse the longer the cable is and get intermittent data errors. The normally correct one, even though it is referred to as a 'straight' cable as opposed to a 'cross', will have one pair split. Notice the green pair below, they are not going straight through like the others but separated. That is crucial in a properly terminated high speed ethernet connection.

Bottom line, you do not need expensive shielded LAN cable for normal operation. My last run was 93 Meters between buildings with CAT5e with no problems at all. Make sure the end wiring looks like below.

[thaimite]

To reiterate what Tyswas has said. I am just completing an airport project with over 6,000 data points all wired with unshielded twisted pair. . All have been professionally tested to ensure they meet the 1GB/s throughput and most are above 70 metres and a few (in unavoidable circumstances) have even slightly exceed the 100 Metre specified maximum length.

[Crossy]

Yup ^^^, I too would put money on an incorrectly wired cable. Please check that first.

What model is the router / switch that you are plugging in to? I have seen some of the cheaper units specifying a much shorter cable run than the 100m standard.

[keeniau96]

I have done a goodly number of net installs, although nowhere near what Thaimite is doing. Totally agree with him and Tywais re the cables and the probable source of problem i.e. poor connections. An RJ-45 connection is simple enough but it does take some practice to do it right. Get a cable tester, the cheap ones are about 300 baht (Amorn shops, Pantip Plaza, etc) and probably enough for your usage. Might also get a RJ-45 crimping tool (get one with the compound squeeze feature, like Visegrips, cost about 900 baht), some cable and a packet of RJ-46 plugs to practice on ... it's easy enough.

[zappalot]

thank you very much for all the answers. I really appreciate it. I learned a lot about LAN cables, more than I knew before.

I already bought a new cable, unshielded again. I bought a new one as the old one is produced by really thin cables, so within the main cable is more air inside than a real cable.

I connected the new cable now to the router which was provided by true. The brand is billion. if I connect the new cable to a notebook the connection is very fast and reliable.

But as soon as I connect it to the D-Link wireless router which is configured as an access point the connection really gets very slowly. Devices connected to the access point can practically not be used to surf in the Internet.

In both routers, the main router as well as the one which is configured as an access point DHCP is enabled.

The 50 m cable is mounted in a high-rise building along the waste water pipes for about 30 m which are made from some kind of steel.

Is it probably possible that this is causing some trouble?

Before I go and buy a new access point I just want to find out if the D-Link router is probably the problem.

Edited May 28, 2013 by zappalot

[thaimite]

thank you very much for all the answers. I really appreciate it. I learned a lot about LAN cables, more than I knew before.

I already bought a new cable, unshielded again. I bought a new one as the old one is produced by really thin cables, so within the main cable is more air inside than a real cable.

I connected the new cable now to the router which was provided by true. The brand is billion. if I connect the new cable to a notebook the connection is very fast and reliable.

But as soon as I connect it to the D-Link wireless router which is configured as an access point the connection really gets very slowly. Devices connected to the access point can practically not be used to surf in the Internet.

In both routers, the main router as well as the one which is configured as an access point DHCP is enabled.

The 50 m cable is mounted in a high-rise building along the waste water pipes for about 30 m which are made from some kind of steel.

Is it probably possible that this is causing some trouble?

Before I go and buy a new access point I just want to find out if the D-Link router is probably the problem.

It is difficult to say without seeing a drawing or having more information, but certainly only the main router should be set to DHCP enabled. Having 2 DHCP servers if on the same subnet can lead to conflicts between them and possily duplicate IP addresses. If they are not on the same subnet then your default gateways have to be set correctly.

I would doubt that the water pipe has any effect although if there are a significant number (more than 4 or 5) of sharp bends or inks in the cable it could cause problems. Any bends the bend radius should be at least 5 times the diameter of the cable.

If the LAN cable is run parallel to any mains cable for more than a few metres it should be at least 100mm (4 inches) away.

Edited May 28, 2013 by thaimite

[zappalot]

So finally the problem was a mix from low-quality cable and the enabled DHCP in both routers.

After disabling DHCP in the router that should be configured as an access point and with the new cable everything is working fine.

Thank you very much everyone for your support.

[thaimite]

So finally the problem was a mix from low-quality cable and the enabled DHCP in both routers.

After disabling DHCP in the router that should be configured as an access point and with the new cable everything is working fine.

Thank you very much everyone for your support.

So finally the problem was a mix from low-quality cable and the enabled DHCP in both routers.

After disabling DHCP in the router that should be configured as an access point and with the new cable everything is working fine.

Thank you very much everyone for your support.

That's good news.

Great to see a happy customer