# 50 pair or 100 pair Cat5e or Cat6



## Navyguy (Mar 15, 2010)

I have a unique situation that I have never come across in all the years doing this. I have a client that needs to remove a small rack and about 50 or so network connections from an office; what they actually need to do is remove all the electronics (switches, modem, router, telephone system) from the office, the actual rack can stay.

So what I want to do is just install a cold cross-connect for the network cables and relocate all the equipment to a new location.

In the telephone days, we would just install a BIX block with a couple of 50pr or a 100pr cable and cross-connect the block to the new location. I am trying to find a Cat5e or Cat6 equivalent as an option to running all new cables from the new rack location. In the end, I am not 100% if it is more cost effective or not.

This is not a "high performance" network, so I am not too worried about some loss and crosstalk; normally I would just run a fibre to a switch and leave it patched where it is, but the requirement is to eliminate all electrical noises / sources in this room, so even having a media converter likely would be an issue.

Distances are not too far (30m +/-), so I am not worried about that either, but the construction of the building has been added on over and over and I think it would be a PIA to try to get a couple of 2" conduits over there and home run everything... much rather run a single cable if possible.

Anybody have a source for such a beast of cable if it even exists?

Cheers

John


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## emtnut (Mar 1, 2015)

If the rack can stay, can a single router or smart switch be there ?

Never seen multi cat cable apart from the old Cat3


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## Navyguy (Mar 15, 2010)

emtnut said:


> If the rack can stay, can a single router or smart switch be there ?
> 
> Never seen multi cat cable apart from the old Cat3


Apparently they want to get rid of all the equipment that causes heat and makes noise. I am sure there is some kind of backstory on this, but at this point my initial answer would be no. My immediate though would be to install a fibre uplink between the new location and this location with a switch / media converter, but right now my "marching orders" are eliminate all the equipment in the room.

I have never seen any multi-cable Cat5e or Cat6 either, but honestly until today I have never even looked for it; that is why I am asking if it even exists. I think in today's environment most people would run a piece of OM5 and be done with it.

Cheers
John


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## GrayHair (Jan 14, 2013)

Did some web searching and 50-pair CAT-5E and CAT-6 are both available. 😁


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

One of the biggest office in this area runs horizontal workstation cables for voice and data (four per workstation outlet) to a field of 110 blocks on the walls in the IDF closets. On the other side of the wall, there's a field of 110 blocks punched to 50-pair cables that go over ladder racks to equipment racks in the middle of the room.

When switches are installed, they are patched once and look pristine perfect at all times; all moves, adds, and changes are done with cat 5 cross connect wire from the workstation field to the equipment field. They used all the best 110 mounting and cross connect management hardware. There was a strict neatniks only policy for doing crossconnects, they'd chase the network administrators out of the IDFs if they came in with a punchdown tool.

So instead of the usual three-link channel

*switch <patch cord> patch panel <cat 5 4-pair to work area> work area jack <patch cord> computer
<patch cord><4-pair cable><patch cord> *

you have a five-link channel

*<patch cord><50 pair cable><cat 5 cross connect wire><cat 5 4-pair to work area><patch cord>*

I think you'd be using bix blocks to basically splice 50-pair onto the existing workstation 4-pair cables, then terminating the 50 pair in patch panels in the new location. So you'd have a four link channel -

*<patch cord><50 pair cable><cat 5 4-pair to work area><patch cord>*

So, I'd be surprised if it didn't work with the 50-pair extension at gigabit. If you can turn the switch ports down to 10/100 I think it's actually fully compliant with cat 5. 

Edited... better answer below


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

GrayHair said:


> Did some web searching and 50-pair CAT-5E and CAT-6 are both available. 😁


That's good, there was a time when you could get cat 5 25-pair and 50-pair, but not cat 5e or cat 6.


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

I was trying to remember where we thought this setup was tripped up with gigabit ethernet, I think I found it. It doesn't really matter whether it's cat 5, cat 5e, or cat 6. This is from the IEEE standard for gigabit ethernet: 



> *40.7.1 Cabling system characteristics*
> The cabling system used to support 1000BASE-T requires 4 pairs of Category 5 balanced cabling with a nominal impedance of 100 Ω. The cabling system components (cables, cords, and connectors) used to provide the link segment shall consist of Category 5 components as specified in ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-A:1995 and ISO/IEC 11801:1995. Additionally:
> 
> a) 1000BASE-T uses a star topology with Category 5 balanced cabling used to connect PHY entities.
> ...


This is from Annex 40A of the ISO/IEC 11801



> 40A.1 Alien crosstalk
> 
> 40A.1.1 Multipair cabling (i.e., greater than 4-pair) Multiple Gigabit Ethernet links [(n*4-Pair) with n greater than 1] should not share a common sheath as in a 25-pair binder group in a multipair cable. When the multipair cable is terminated into compliant connecting hardware (TIA does not specify 25 position connecting hardware), the NEXT loss contributions between the adjacent 4-pair Gigabit Ethernet link, from connecting hardware and the cable combined, cannot be completely cancelled.


So multipair cabling is outside the standard no matter what the rating. 

The standard shows a minimum channel (three segments)











and a maximum channel - four links - 










With an extension using a bundle of 4-pair cable, you aren't exactly what they had in mind with the maximum channel, but it's four links, I think you could call it compliant.


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## Navyguy (Mar 15, 2010)

GrayHair said:


> Did some web searching and 50-pair CAT-5E and CAT-6 are both available. 😁


You must be better at google-fu than me, because I am not seeing any of it.

Cheers
John


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## Navyguy (Mar 15, 2010)

splatz said:


> I was trying to remember where we thought this setup was tripped up with gigabit ethernet, I think I found it. It doesn't really matter whether it's cat 5, cat 5e, or cat 6. This is from the IEEE standard for gigabit ethernet:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I think this is why I am not seeing it as readily available... Like I said in my original post, this is not a high performance network and whoever put it in originally certainly did not qualify or certify it... so meeting the TIA standard is really less of an issue for me on this job.

I am thinking I may end up running a couple of 2" EMT conduits and doing it as a cold connect patch panel and see where we end up with it. I need to go back and see how the individual runs are wired, if we are passing through a bunch of them for the cold connect and they are conduit fed through the floor, then I might just end up re-feeding them.

Cheers
John


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## BleedingLungsMurphy (10 mo ago)

Have you tried contacting Panduit directly?






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CAT5E UTP Bulk Ethernet Cable, 25 Pair Solid Copper CM, 24 AWG


This CAT5E 25-Pair Ethernet Cable UTP is the perfect fit for reliable installations where the cable will be used indoors.




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## Navyguy (Mar 15, 2010)

Thank you very much.

Cheers
John


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## MHElectric (Oct 14, 2011)

I wish I had done a little more of data/cable/phone wiring. Cause Im lost when it comes to these conversations.

All I know how to do is pull a cable from each drop to the rack is the phone room. Punch the jack to the B-color code. And then have someone who knows what their doing tell me which port to punch it down on.

I have no idea why or what everything actually means. All I know is “Just do it.”


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## Wardenclyffe (Jan 11, 2019)

Vertical Cable 1000ft Solid Cat5E Cable - 24AWG 50 Pair 350MHz CMR Bulk Ethernet


Cat5E Bulk Vertical cable with 24AWG, 50 Pair, 350MHz & CMR bulk ethernet comes in multicolors at FireFold having a solid cable design & 1000ft length.




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