User guide

Appendixes
CommPlete Communications Server 87
However, Cat 5 has some installation requirements that must be met:
• Never use staples to mount or fix Cat 5 wiring.
• Velcro is recommended in place of tie wraps. Wrap cable in bundles very loosely if you use tie wraps.
• Never untwist the wire at the punch-down block or jack termination; the twists should remain right up
to the termination.
• Never strip off more jacket insulation than is required to make the termination.
• Do not pull too hard on the cable (especially around corners).
• Do not pull on a cable to straighten out a loop or kink. Instead, always untwist the cable at the location
of the loop or kink.
• Do not stuff too many cables into too small of a conduit.
• Refer to the applicable Commercial Building Telecom Wiring Standard for specific information.
The Ethernet 100BaseT standard is implemented for three cabling environments: copper wire
(100BaseT2), UTP (100BaseTX), and fiber (100BaseFX). Since the 100BaseT spec is built on the 10BaseT
spec, it is an easy upgrade from 10M to 100M bps, without impact on users, existing operating systems, or
network management applications. 100BaseT provides increased throughput compared to 10BaseT by
decreasing the latency period between bits, effectively increasing packet speed by a factor of 10.
100BaseTX uses two pairs of 24 gauge wire, one pair for transmitting and one pair for receiving.
Upgrading a network from 10M bps to 100M bps Ethernet requires 100BaseTX NICs and Hubs as well as
the Cat 5 wiring to connect them. It is strongly recommended that end-to-end testing be performed to
verify proper installation of Cat 5 connection to the Cat 5-compliant wall jacks and patch panels.
100BaseTX Connectivity Rules:
• the max. length of a twisted-pair segment (e.g., the distance from a Hub port to a PC/NIC) is 100
meters.
• the max. diameter in a collision domain is approx. 205 meters (672.5 feet) using two Class II Hubs and
200 meters (656 feet) using one Class I Hub.
• up to three segments and two Class II Hubs (or two segments and one Class I Hub) may exist between
any two end stations in a collision domain.