Cat6 speed limited

[FaceFoiled]

Hi all,

 

My Cat6 cable is not running at 1000mbps (limited to 100mb), but with a tester shows that all 8 wires are working properly (signal sent/received on both ends on all 8 wires). The light at the back of the router (where the cable plugs in) shows Orange instead of Green. Help

 

TLDR:

I moved into my new house late last year, and as of a few months ago started working from home full time. As a result, I moved my computer from the living room to the other side of the house for more privacy. We had not done anything in regards to re-cabling the house, so I just had an old Cat5e cable running around the house to connect my PC. That cable worked fine, gave me full 1000mbps connection (have a 1 GB fibre connection).That literally went out an air duct above a window, around the outside of my house, back into the house through the letterbox at the front door, through the hallway and into the front room where my new office is. That was a good temporary solution, but not a permanent one.

 

So I ordered 100meter of Cat6 Shielded External cable. I crimped both ends to test the line with a tester, and it showed signals on all 8 wires. I never tested to see if it would run at 1GB though, kinda just assumed it would. Now I connected that through my house (Goes out a wall, up the side of my house (hence external shielded), into my attic, over my attic, out the other side, down the side of the house and through the wall back inside). It works, but noticed it's limited to 100mbps.

 

I've recrimped both ends, same result. I'll measure the cut-off I have left over, as I did not use all 100meters, guessing maybe 40 to 50 (I think it should carry a 1GB signal over 100 meters though, before it drops off).

 

 halp

[Electronics Wizardy]

 

 

Id say try anouther cable, or get a premade cable, or just run again. There isn't much else you can do without a proper test(and those aren't cheap)

 

What pattern are you crimping with? you sure its exctly the same on both ends?

[Windows7ge]

Have you tried connecting a different computer on on end and either a different switch/router or computer to the other?

 

It's hard to say what the problem is if we know all 8 wires are good and the network interfaces are known working at gigabit.

[FaceFoiled]

5 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Have you tried connecting a different computer on on end and either a different switch/router or computer to the other?

No, I don't have another computer or router unfortunately. I have added a switch in between though. PC to Switch = 1000mbps. But actual speeds are limited to 100mbps.

 

I'm currently crimping the ends of the leftover of that Cat6 I have, and will see if I can run that in-house between the rooms to test. Sadly not really in a position to move PC around (WFH, I need the PC online :P). I'm guessing I'll have to replace the Cat6 cable, but hope to find other solutions as removing the current and re-running it again will cost my quite a bit of time and money.

 

8 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

What pattern are you crimping with? you sure its exctly the same on both ends?

T568B. I tried A as well to see if that somehow made a difference (did not). Both ends are the same yes. I can confirm this with the tester I use as well, as it sends a signal through each wire in the cable. So it shows "Sending signal 1" and at the other end "receiving signal 1". That is repeated through all 8 wires (so easy to spot if a wire a connector is not crimped properly, or if the ends are mismatched (in which case it could be something like, "sending signal 1" and at the other end "receiving signal 4".

[FaceFoiled]

I realized I used Cat7 RJ45 connectors. Not sure if it makes a difference, but found that some of the pins were not perfectly lined up with the cables. So while it is sending/receiving signals on all 8 cables, it might not be strong enough? Ordered some new ones to test. 

[Windows7ge]

1 hour ago, FaceFoiled said:

No, I don't have another computer or router unfortunately. I have added a switch in between though. PC to Switch = 1000mbps. But actual speeds are limited to 100mbps.

If you do router -> switch -> Cat6 to PC what happens?

 

I have to assume the signal is getting lost somewhere. If you opted for STP are both ends grounded? If not it defeats the purpose (not that this does anything for gigabit unless you routed it along lengths of powerline.

 

Improper terminations can cause problems but usually at gigabit you don't see them. Problems tend to crop up when going 10gig so your situation is a unique one. We've seen people have problems with 100mbit/1gbit negotiation before but they never verify it isn't a interface issue before posting so here I'm at a bit of a loss outside trying different hardware.

[FaceFoiled]

24 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

If you opted for STP are both ends grounded? If not it defeats the purpose (not that this does anything for gigabit unless you routed it along lengths of powerline.

I don't think anything is grounded tbh. I just peal back the shielding and clip that off to put the connector on. It's not running close to power lines though.

I purchased shielded because I figured, why not. Seemed like a good idea at the time, sounded "safer".

[Windows7ge]

2 minutes ago, FaceFoiled said:

I don't think anything is grounded tbh. I just peal back the shielding and clip that off to put the connector on. It's not running close to power lines though.

I purchased shielded because I figured, why not. Seemed like a good idea at the time, sounded "safer".

Yeah...STP only does it's job when both ends are properly grounded with shielded RJ-45 connectors. You're only trying to do Gigabit though and there's no power wires around so it shouldn't make any difference at all.

 

Let us know how that hack run you're working on goes. Maybe the wire tester isn't quite accurate enough on one wire that might be too damaged for data transmission.

[FaceFoiled]

I just tested with the Switch after the router. Router > Switch > cable to pc. Did not get a signal. Went "fuck it, let's crimp on ANOTHER connector". 

 

I don't know if it's the Switch after the router, or the new connector again. ( I checked the previous connector thoroughly, seemed ok ), but it's working now. :P Time to download all the things. Will troubleshoot later on again with a direct connection.

21 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Yeah...STP only does it's job when both ends are properly grounded with shielded RJ-45 connectors

I am using shielded connectors. Do I just need to make sure the shield from the cable touches the metal shielding from the connector?

[FaceFoiled]

Tested without the switch, everything works now. It was just the connector.. I'm just going to hide in shame somewhere. Oh well, I'm sure the new connectors will come into use at some point

[Windows7ge]

Good to hear it was just a loose connection. It'd really suck if it was a break along the wire.

 

To utilize STP the shielding needs to be in contact with the shielded RJ-45 connector which you would usually crimp down on the metal jacket then both the PC, Switch, or Router needs a metal interface with proper grounding. That's how STP works.

 

Without actually looking it up to verify I believe Cat6 will do 10Gbit up to 50m. Shielding may or may not help that since crosstalk is also a factor in that.

[Hoodrich Iggy]

9 hours ago, FaceFoiled said:

Hi all,

 

My Cat6 cable is not running at 1000mbps (limited to 100mb), but with a tester shows that all 8 wires are working properly (signal sent/received on both ends on all 8 wires). The light at the back of the router (where the cable plugs in) shows Orange instead of Green. Help

 

TLDR:

I moved into my new house late last year, and as of a few months ago started working from home full time. As a result, I moved my computer from the living room to the other side of the house for more privacy. We had not done anything in regards to re-cabling the house, so I just had an old Cat5e cable running around the house to connect my PC. That cable worked fine, gave me full 1000mbps connection (have a 1 GB fibre connection).That literally went out an air duct above a window, around the outside of my house, back into the house through the letterbox at the front door, through the hallway and into the front room where my new office is. That was a good temporary solution, but not a permanent one.

 

So I ordered 100meter of Cat6 Shielded External cable. I crimped both ends to test the line with a tester, and it showed signals on all 8 wires. I never tested to see if it would run at 1GB though, kinda just assumed it would. Now I connected that through my house (Goes out a wall, up the side of my house (hence external shielded), into my attic, over my attic, out the other side, down the side of the house and through the wall back inside). It works, but noticed it's limited to 100mbps.

 

I've recrimped both ends, same result. I'll measure the cut-off I have left over, as I did not use all 100meters, guessing maybe 40 to 50 (I think it should carry a 1GB signal over 100 meters though, before it drops off).

 

 halp

Are you using the connectors that are attached and run through your walls or do you have a cable running directly from your router or switch to your device?  If so the wiring in the walls may be a lower category and I have had trouble in the past using my wall connectors I just have a 125ft cat6a running upstairs to a switch lol