Posted on 01/02/2008 4:55:55 PM PST by mark3681
Need a little help with a problem with a CAT5e connection.
No. I'd check that you have the right conductor pair on each contact. I'd also do a continuity check on all conductors. Worse comes to worse, I'd use two smaller cables and a hub in between.
I think you have a bad cable. Should be virtually no difference between a 10 footer and the 50 footer unless you have a bad driver on the network interface card. Can you try another long cable? Can you try another port on the router? And is that a standard 100BaseT interface port on the XBox?
Are you sure both cables are physically the same too, IOW one is not a crossover is it?
Go here, pay the $7.. and get it over with.
Thanks for your reply.
Not sure about the 100baseT. It’s just the standard RJ45 type connector on the back of the Xbox.
The short cable I’m using is:
ETL Verified, TIA/EIA-568-B.2 CAT5 Patch Cable UTP.
Does this tell you anything?
The 100m figure is for an active network — switches or hubs that are powered and repeating an amplified signal from one network node to another. Your router and XBox are nodes, and apparently they don’t have a strong enough signal to talk at 50 feet. Either that, or the cable itself is bad.
I’d try the 50ft cable between a PC and the router. If that works, then the offender is the XBox, since obviously the router is pulling its weight. If the PC doesn’t work, then it could be any of the three — the cable, the router, or the XBox. The only way to know would be to try a different 50ft cable, or put a quality switch in place — shorter cables from router to switch and from switch to XBox. Even a $20 switch should work fine: http://shop3.outpost.com/product/4774329
Making it.
wimp
Basic troubleshooting Zen says, try another 50 foot cable. A new one.
Though, if you have a laptop, you could try hooking it up to that cable and see if it works, on the off chance there’s something wrong with the xBox.. xBoxes are known for having problems. Though my xBox (purchased on the first day of availability) has worked flawlessly.. and I’ve not heard of any problems with the NIC.. usually it’s the DVD drive..
Good advice. I’ll try it.
Thank you.
Thanks again.
And thanks to all.
I’m sure somewhere amongst all this advice there is a solution.
Regards.
Also examine the jack on the XBox. I found a dust-bunny issue in one of my friends’ boxes that was having intermittent connectivity issues. You’d love to have seen the look on his face... ;-)
In the absence of a hub, switch, or router a crossover cable may be necessary.
Is the long cable also specified EIA-568-B.2? Could be a lower quality cable incapable of supporting higher data rates....
A time-domain reflectometer would be handy for testing that cable right now.
On a more practical note - for long cable runs where the wire is near an exterior wall - or running outside the house: if you live in a thunderstorm-prone area, consider installing Ethernet surge protectors at both ends.
I tried a continuity check. I get continuity pin to pin.
I tried going from the router to the modem to see if that worked (to see if the xbox was the culprit). This didn’t work either. Must be a lower grade cable, like you say.
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