Wire manufacturers helping me with my job again

[HCHTech]

Imagine my surprise trying to re-terminate a wire in a dimly-lit closet today. Let's see, we got Orange & White, Orange & White, White, Green & White, Blue & White, Blue, Brown & White, and Brown & White.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I hate that old crap... there is a pattern to it but you have to strip back way too much to decipher it.

 

[mikeroq]

Looks pretty old. I wonder if that is even Cat5.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Looks pretty old. I wonder if that is even Cat5.

Yeah, looks like 4 pair CAT3 doesn't it?

 

[Blues]

Looks like cheap Cat5 from around early to mid 2000s I remember working with spools of the stuff my employer had already purchased when I began. I found handling the strands without a good 1-2 inches available was problematic if not for issues with distinction but also with getting them to line up and stay lined up. I probably chopped off and "wasted" a good 10 feet of cable over the course of using those spools which really isn't bad considering it was usually 1000' spools.

 

[Markverhyden]

Haven't seen that in years. Some bottom of the barrel vendors would buy unused spools intended for 25, 50, etc pairs to make 4 pair cable. Stripped back another inch or so and you'll see, or at least should, that there is a difference in the color/colorW spacing.

 

[HCHTech]

Yeah, this was a single run, not like the rest of the networking - obviously old. I ended up stripping it back about another 6 or 8 inches to suss out the colors, then I just put in a wall box with a single connector plate screwed right to the wiring wall. There were no markings on the jacket to give away Cat3 or Cat5, but I guess it worked when I was done. They are using it for a postage meter. The ceilings are all drywalled so no new runs in the budget, unfortunately.

 

[Sky-Knight]

cat3 will run 100mbit, but if you try to do gigabit over it you'll have a bad day.

That is... unless the run is short... under 30ft you can get away with all sorts of shenanigans.

 

[NETWizz]

Imagine my surprise trying to re-terminate a wire in a dimly-lit closet today. Let's see, we got Orange & White, Orange & White, White, Green & White, Blue & White, Blue, Brown & White, and Brown & White.

View attachment 13081

You got me chuckling