CAT-6 Ethernet questions.

[abccool2020]

I having a LAN party coming up and I am hosting it. I realized I needed to use ethernet to plug everyone in. The LAN party is going to happen in my basement. My router in on the 1st floor. There will be 5 people attending. I went downstairs to see if I can find an ethernet cable. So I found something, but my normal ethernet cable does not have fit. I did a bit of research and realized it is a cat-6 plug. Now, my question is how do I verify that it works with a network switcher. My other question is fast are network switchers. I am planning on buying (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122005&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Network+-+Switches-_-N82E16833122005&gclid=CjwKCAiAtorUBRBnEiwAfcp_Y91wlTkk2Sc-YTb7WI6QlDidRr1xoQAe6ZnhciUL0ZS736DSBcPIDRoCqzkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds). It says 10/100 per port. Does it really mean I will only get 10 Mbps down?

[Crunchy Dragon]

I'm no networking expert, but I'll give it my best shot:

 

2 minutes ago, abccool2020 said:

It says 10/100 per port. Does it really mean I will only get 10 Mbps down?

It means you can get 10 or 100Mbps in either direction I believe.

 

3 minutes ago, abccool2020 said:

Now, my question is how do I verify that it works with a network switcher.

I would imagine as long as the switch will physically support CAT6 you'll be fine.

 

Congrats on the LAN party, I don't hear about a lot of those outside of PDXLAN and everything else these days(maybe I just have no friends that do them).

[Thunderzzu]

12 minutes ago, abccool2020 said:

did a bit of research and realized it is a cat-6 plug.

How exactly is a CAT6 plug any different than any other utp cable? CAT6 is just the type of UTP cable which usually means better the number, better the insulation for electric interference and quality overall which means betters speeds. The connector is a RJ45 for every type of UTP cable no matter what you have. 

 

The only issue is if you've found yourself a SFP connector

 

You can buy gigabit network switches with 5+ ports for under 20$ and a bulk of UTP cables for even less, and most PC shops tend to just give UTP cables away since they have so many. Ask around a bit. My ISP technician once gave me a box of like 100+ UTP cables since he had them all over the car

[AnonymousGuy]

Are you sure you weren't trying to plug a phone cord into an ethernet port?  Cat5/5e/6/7 all use the same plug and are all "ethernet", and they're all compatible with each other.  You only use 6 over 5e when you're doing long runs (>100m).

 

For 5 people literally anything would work...the cheapest cables and switches.

[Donut417]

20 minutes ago, abccool2020 said:

I having a LAN party coming up and I am hosting it. I realized I needed to use ethernet to plug everyone in. The LAN party is going to happen in my basement. My router in on the 1st floor. There will be 5 people attending. I went downstairs to see if I can find an ethernet cable. So I found something, but my normal ethernet cable does not have fit. I did a bit of research and realized it is a cat-6 plug. Now, my question is how do I verify that it works with a network switcher. My other question is fast are network switchers. I am planning on buying (https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122005&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-PC-_-pla-_-Network+-+Switches-_-N82E16833122005&gclid=CjwKCAiAtorUBRBnEiwAfcp_Y91wlTkk2Sc-YTb7WI6QlDidRr1xoQAe6ZnhciUL0ZS736DSBcPIDRoCqzkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds). It says 10/100 per port. Does it really mean I will only get 10 Mbps down?

No such thing as a Cat 6 plug. Its RJ45, all RJ45 connectors are pretty much the same. As far as that switch is concerned, you will get 10 Mbps down and up to 100 Mbps down and up, it will use the fastest that the devices support. Most devices support up to 1 Gbps, so you should be good. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

7 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

No such thing as a Cat 6 plug. Its RJ45, all RJ45 connectors are pretty much the same. As far as that switch is concerned, you will get 10 Mbps down and up to 100 Mbps down and up, it will use the fastest that the devices support. Most devices support up to 1 Gbps, so you should be good. 

Its not 100 down, 10 up. Its either 10 or 100 full or half duplex. Normally it will run in 100mbit mode these days as almost noone has 10mbit still in service.

 

Id spend 5 more on a gigbit switch, there nice to have.

[abccool2020]

29 minutes ago, Donut417 said:

No such thing as a Cat 6 plug. Its RJ45, all RJ45 connectors are pretty much the same. As far as that switch is concerned, you will get 10 Mbps down and up to 100 Mbps down and up, it will use the fastest that the devices support. Most devices support up to 1 Gbps, so you should be good. 

 

31 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Are you sure you weren't trying to plug a phone cord into an ethernet port?  Cat5/5e/6/7 all use the same plug and are all "ethernet", and they're all compatible with each other.  You only use 6 over 5e when you're doing long runs (>100m).

 

For 5 people literally anything would work...the cheapest cables and switches.

 

40 minutes ago, Thunderzzu said:

How exactly is a CAT6 plug any different than any other utp cable? CAT6 is just the type of UTP cable which usually means better the number, better the insulation for electric interference and quality overall which means betters speeds. The connector is a RJ45 for every type of UTP cable no matter what you have. 

 

The only issue is if you've found yourself a SFP connector

 

You can buy gigabit network switches with 5+ ports for under 20$ and a bulk of UTP cables for even less, and most PC shops tend to just give UTP cables away since they have so many. Ask around a bit. My ISP technician once gave me a box of like 100+ UTP cables since he had them all over the car

 

47 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I'm no networking expert, but I'll give it my best shot:

 

It means you can get 10 or 100Mbps in either direction I believe.

 

I would imagine as long as the switch will physically support CAT6 you'll be fine.

 

Congrats on the LAN party, I don't hear about a lot of those outside of PDXLAN and everything else these days(maybe I just have no friends that do them).

I feel so stupid right now. I was trying to plug a Ethernet cable into a telephone line port on my wall.

[dalekphalm]

8 minutes ago, abccool2020 said:

 

 

 

I feel so stupid right now. I was trying to plug a Ethernet cable into a telephone line port on my wall.

Since it’s not permanent, I would just buy a long ass Ethernet cable, an 8 port Gigabit Ethernet switch, and 5 6-foot patch cables. 

 

Run the long ass cable upstairs to your router so that you have internet access. Plug that into the switch. 

 

Then, use the shorter patch cables to connect each computer. 

 

You'll need an 8-port switch, NOT a 5-port switch because you’ll need 5 ports (one each) for the gaming PC’s, and a 6th port for the uplink to the router. 

 

Consumer switches generally come in 5, 8, and 16 port varieties. 

 

You should buy a Gigabit switch over a 10/100 switch because the price increase is marginal, and you don’t want to add an unnecessary bottleneck. Especially if you need/want to share files between PC’s. 

[Mornincupofhate]

You can have a lan party on wireless you know.

[dalekphalm]

9 hours ago, Mornincupofhate said:

You can have a lan party on wireless you know.

You can, but that's not ideal. Especially since realistically, it's not really that difficult of a setup to get working.

[ERM64bit]

On 2/13/2018 at 9:26 PM, abccool2020 said:

I feel so stupid right now. I was trying to plug a Ethernet cable into a telephone line port on my wall.

You can always do what I did: remove the RJ11 and use the telephone wire as a pull wire to run new CAT6 in its place. Granted, I already own my own cable tester, RJ45 crimpers, bulk RJ45 ends, CAT6 Keystone Jacks, UTP strippers, and punch-down tool. If you don't own any of this or know how to use it, you're in for one hell of a weekend. (If you need bulk cables, I use ShowMeCables because we have a government contract with them, but literally any PVC-based UTP CAT6 should be sufficient. I don't see the necessity/justification of going with Plenum rated cables unless you want to spend more time frustrated or are running them alongside electrical wiring). You can buy pre-made cables, but they're way more expensive per foot in the long run, and you typically have a ridiculous amount of slack/shortage. 

 

As far as a gigabit switch (which I think someone already explained the 10/100/1000 meaning earlier, so I won't double post) https://www.amazon.com/D-Link-Gigabit-Unmanaged-Desktop-DGS-108/dp/B000BCC0LO/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_147_tr_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7JBJFJQR02GH6CMT7Z4Z I think that should work. Unmanaged 8 port gigabit switches are usually pretty cheap.

[Sir Asvald]

On 2/14/2018 at 4:19 AM, Mornincupofhate said:

You can have a lan party on wireless you know.

Wut? It's called a LAN party for obvious reasons...

[Rupe]

13 minutes ago, Abdul201588 said:

Wut? It's called a LAN party for obvious reasons...

A local area network can be wireless

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, Abdul201588 said:

Wut? It's called a LAN party for obvious reasons...

 

2 hours ago, Rupe said:

A local area network can be wireless

Technically correct, since Local Area Network "technically" means everything on your internal network. However, typically WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) is used to describe WIFI internally.

 

It's technically correct, but it's context is incorrect and confusing/misleading.