CAT 5 question

[caduceus]

I have an XBOX 360 which was suppied with the following cable: etl verified to EIA/TIA 568 CAT 5 UTP 4 pairs 24AWG patch cable.

I have just ordered 30 metres of CAT 5 cable from cable universe but it says on it 3P on it. I assume its 3 pair then?

Will this not do the same job as the XBOX supplied 4 pair stuff? Or does the 'pair' malarky not make any difference?

Thanks all.

[agent006]

caduceus said:

'pair' malarky not make any difference?

Only uses 2 pairs.

[redgta]

Strickly speaking only 1000baseT wiring requires all 4 pairs. This is commonly refered to as gigabit ethernet. As said, all you need is 2 pairs for 10baseT and 100baseT ethernet. But, for your information it is considered normal procedure to always wire all four pairs in any configuration. Most ethernet cable you buy these days is at it's lowest Cat5e based. This stands for Cat5 enhanced and is capable of Gigabit up to about 250-300 metres. If you have Cat5 cable then that is fine as well. That is typical in a 100baseT environment.

This link will explain all.

www.zytrax.com/tech/layer_1/cables/tech_lan.htm

[caduceus]

Thanks guys