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  • From: Steven Champeon <schampeo AT hesketh.com>
  • To: InterNetWorkers <internetworkers AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: silly cable question
  • Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 10:29:13 -0400


on Wed, Apr 18, 2001 at 09:54:28AM -0400, Gina Norman wrote:
> The word CAT5 is in my head, but I don't know:
>
> 1) if that's really what I need

CatV will let you run 100Mbps ethernet (and maybe Gbps ethernet);
CatIII should let you do 10Mbps and is also fine for phone
systems. Stick to CatV if you have the choice, and if you're sure
you really want to bother with wire networking.

> 2) where I could get such a thing (need fewer than 70 ft. and would
> prefer not to buy tons more than I need)

Stay Online has it, Intrex should have it, you can buy it online (most
places have it; I've recently priced out patch cords at MacWarehouse,
so I'm pretty sure they sell bulk cable).

> 3) if there's something else I'll need along with the CAT5.

Well, the cable is going to be raw wire, no rj45 jacks. So you'll need
a friend with an rj45 jack tool, some rj45 blanks, and a small pair of
pliers/snips. Let me know if you want, I've got one.

> The computers themselves are, at this point, hypothetical. My home
> PC is an ancient coal-fired Mac, so when I want to work from home I
> take in my laptop. I've thought about getting an older windows-type
> machine because I'm really interested in X-10ing my house. I would
> expect that the cable might be used to connect my laptop in the
> bedroom to my X-10 machine in the living room.

Better yet - just skip the wires and go wireless. For $300 you can get
an Apple Airport, which is just a Lucent Wavelan/Orinoco Silver PCMCIA
card, which itself costs $300 or so. You can also plug a hub into the
Airport and support computers without Airport/wireless capability. I
ran an old iMac (w/o airport), a PC laptop w/Wavelan card, and
Powerbook off a shared dialup and then cable modem at the last
apartment, and now am running the two laptops off same, without any
problems; only thing is there's a dead spot on the porch where the
line of sight goes through two chimneys. But I'd consider going
wireless if I were you. For a home network, you don't need more than
the 8-11Mbps, and the freedom is worth it, IMHO.

Ask if you have questions,
Steve

--
"Euphoria is not a business strategy" --Louis Rossetto




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