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Happy-Camper's profile

Teacher

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17 Messages

Friday, May 27th, 2022 8:33 PM

Network Cable and speeds higher than one Gigabit

I am currently using ATT for my internet and have a 1 Gig Fiber connection.  The house I live in is already wired for internet and the cables being used are blue and have the following description: EIL Verified TIA/EIA-568 W/0# 604741.  All these cables converge into a panel that was built into the wall when the house was built.  One of these cables connects to the ATT Modem. 

I am currently getting speeds of 940/940 which I understand is the max you can get with a 1 GB connection.

ATT is now offering faster speeds, and I was wondering if my cables can handle a two-gigabit connection.  I know about Cat5, cat5e, cat6 etc., but I have never seen network cables such as the ones installed in my house until now.

Thank you.

Accepted Solution

Teacher

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17 Messages

4 days ago

Two years have passed and I now have an AT&T 2000 service without having to replace my CAT5e cables.  2355 DN / 2373 UP.   8)

(edited)

ACE - Guru

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9.9K Messages

2 years ago

When was the home built?  I have some CAT5 cables that have that same marking but without that W0#. 

Teacher

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17 Messages

2 years ago

I believe my home was built in 2013 or 2014

Former Employee

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32.9K Messages

2 years ago

have you even checked to see if faster speeds are offered to your house?

Teacher

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17 Messages

2 years ago

Based on my address, ATT says that speeds of up to 5 gigabit is available.

ACE - Guru

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9.9K Messages

2 years ago

Wow, unless your builder really cheaped-out, that should be CAT5e, which began to come into favor maybe 10 yrs before that. 

All you can do is to give it a shot and see.  All of these ratings are based on theory and it's not unusual to see cables that aren't overly long still perform beyond their rating.  I had some short cables that I thought were CAT5e and gave full gig speeds only to take a closer look a long time afterwards and discovered were just CAT5.

It sounds like you're hoping to distribute faster wired speed throughout the house, is that right?  Just making sure you understand that any network switch you have will need to be upgraded to >1Gbps capability.

Teacher

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17 Messages

2 years ago

Like I said, I can achieve the max speed for a 1 gigabit fiber, so I know the builder did not cheap out on the cables.  I already have a switch that is capable of Port trunking/Link Aggregation (LAG) that can handle several gigabits.  I don't want to to signup, pay the extra money for the upgrade and having to re-do all my network settings for nothing, if it doesn't work.  That is why I need to find out what these markings on the cable mean.

(edited)

ACE - Guru

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9.9K Messages

2 years ago

And like I said, I have CAT5 cables with the same exact markings and they go 1Gbps.    I'll note that I also have cables that say TIA/EIA-568-B.2,  Some are labeled CAT5 and some say CAT5e. So I don't t know of any way to conclusively determine what your cables are. 

ACE - Expert

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36K Messages

2 years ago

Earlier cable standards are about conductor diameter and twist rates.  What is technically supported may not be all that different even when the standard is.  For example, Ethernet over Cat 6 won't go any faster any further than Cat5e over 100 meters (the limit of Ethernet over twisted pair).  5e over 5 is more significant, but it's still about certification.  You mileage may vary.

Your in-wall wiring is only part of the story.  The Gateway has only 1 port that's more than 1 Gbps.  That can't be connected to all of your home wiring directly.  You'd need an Ethernet switch with multiple more than 1 Gbps ports for multiple devices to access more than 1 Gbps.

That said, though, that doesn't mean that having 2 Gbps service would only be good for one computer.  You could have 2 devices running a 1 Gbps speed test at the same time and they'd both top out over 900 mbps (instead of both coming out at 475 each).

Scholar

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4.2K Messages

2 years ago

@Happy-Camper 

Just because your house per-quifies for Fiber 5000 Wan service does not directly tanster into having Cat 5e support. for the LAN side

While Cat 5e may work in a residential areas over short distances it would not  be expected to work in a large business venue due to the distance to be covered  and permissible crosswalk on the circuits.

Just route the data cables away from power sources and it might even future proof you for 10 Mbps services in the future. The distance of 200 or 400 ft vs 5000 ft is a major deference.

Good luck,

Dave

(edited)

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