Cabling
The 1000BASE-T product is designed to operate over Category 5 cabling. To further enhance the operation, the cabling standards have been amended. The latest standard is Category 5e, which defines a higher level of link performance than is available with Category 5 cable.
If installing new cable, we recommend using Category 5e cable, since it costs about the same as Category 5 cable. If using the existing cable, be sure to have the cable plant tested by a professional who can verify that it meets or exceeds either ANSI/EIA/TIA- 568-A:1995 or ISO/IEC 11801:1995 Category 5 specifications.
Length
The maximum distance limitation between two pieces of equipment is 100 m, as per the original Ethernet specification. The end-to-end link is called the “channel.”
TSB-67 defines the “Basic Link” which is the portion of the link that is part of the building infrastructure. This excludes patch and equipment cords. The maximum basic link length is 295 feet (90 m).
Return Loss
Return loss measures the amount of reflected signal energy resulting from impedance changes in the cabling link. The nature of 1000BASE-T renders this measurement very important; if too much energy is reflected back on to the receiver, the device does not perform optimally.
Unlike 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX, which use only two of the four pairs of wires within the Category 5, 1000BASE-T uses all four pairs of the twisted pair. Make sure all wires are tested æ this is important.