The "New Toys" Thread

leviathan said:
I use CAT-5e for the whole LAN in our apartment. My cable is 30 meters long, gigabit runs perfectly. Don't know about normal CAT-5 though, I have a meter of that connecting my switch with the DSL modem, but the modem can only do 100Mbit anyway.

While we're on this topic: what do the standards say about this? I'm going to be installing a bigger network in the new office, and haven't yet bought the cables; should I get CAT-5e or spend some more on CAT-6?..
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IIRC CAT 6 is capable of different frequency from CAT5e but they will both handle gig just fine. CAT5 goes up to 150mbps, not sure how you managed to push it into gig, unless its the same wiring as 5e labeled differently.
 
leviathan said:
While we're on this topic: what do the standards say about this? I'm going to be installing a bigger network in the new office, and haven't yet bought the cables; should I get CAT-5e or spend some more on CAT-6?..
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Post-2002 Cat5 will do 1000BASE-T, Pre-2002 needs Cat5e.
 
prizrak said:
IIRC CAT 6 is capable of different frequency from CAT5e but they will both handle gig just fine. CAT5 goes up to 150mbps, not sure how you managed to push it into gig, unless its the same wiring as 5e labeled differently.
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narf said:
Post-2002 Cat5 will do 1000BASE-T, Pre-2002 needs Cat5e.
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leviathan said:
I use CAT-5e for the whole LAN in our apartment. My cable is 30 meters long, gigabit runs perfectly. Don't know about normal CAT-5 though, I have a meter of that connecting my switch with the DSL modem, but the modem can only do 100Mbit anyway.

While we're on this topic: what do the standards say about this? I'm going to be installing a bigger network in the new office, and haven't yet bought the cables; should I get CAT-5e or spend some more on CAT-6?..
Click to expand...

CAT-5e was a small upgrade to CAT-5 to allow Gigabit. CAT-6 was designed for GBit networking, but is rated 10Gbit out of the box for 50m and the annex CAT-6a allows 10GBit over 100m as well. Its all going to be superseded by CAT-7 which has already been finalized.

Basically all the standards do is specify limits to various physical and electrical characteristsics, i.e: no more noise than x over ym of cable, can take bending upto z? per m etc. Manufacturers may exceed the spec during manufacturing, so you get better quality cable. As for getting 1Gbit over CAT5, its easy on short cables. Hell, you could probably do it over 5cm using nothing but exposed untwisted paperclips or something.

prizrak/narf: Newer controllers probably had better noise reduction/SNR ratings and could thus do more with shittier cable. You didn't cange the phoneline when you upgraded from 14.4k modems to 56k modems, its just that the chips became more capable. My router does Gbit over short CAT-5 (marked verified CAT-5 on the cable). I have no doubt that it would drop down to 100Mbit over longer CAT-5 though.

Leviathan: Depends on how long your cables will end up to be. If its very long (>100m) and you need Gbit, I'd advise CAT-6. Bear in mind though that CAT-6 is a bit harder to work with than CAT-5e since most CAT-6 is basically CAT-5e with a piece of plastic to separate the 4 twisted pairs into individual compartments as its the cheapest way to meet the requirements regarding transmission.
 
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Remember also that lan cables have maxium lenght of 100m (90m actually + 2x 5m for devices @ the end).
but nice to hear about the newer cables support gibit over shot distances.

ZeDestructor said:
.... Hell, you could probably do it over 5cm using nothing but exposed untwisted paperclips or something.
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That sounds like finalgear.com Challenge! :lol:
 
h-p said:
Can't fit no more without PCI-e -> sata :(
(this, 3x1TB, SSD, Blu-ray and e-sata, all used)
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ah ic, i'v used up all my sata-ports too (4x in gaming rig dvd/160Gb/2x2TB, 2x in ghettoserver 2x 1,5TB)
 
netgear-stora.jpg


Picked one up today, rooted. Cleaned it up put mediatomb and transmission on it. Beasty piece of kit
 
viilaaja@pt cruiser said:
omg pics!
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Sadly I have no idea who did that, so I can't even go ask for pics :(

Hidden_Hunter said:
netgear-stora.jpg


Picked one up today, rooted. Cleaned it up put mediatomb and transmission on it. Beasty piece of kit
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Neat. Looks like only 2 drives though. Won't that become a problem eventually? And what CPU is there on that?

P.S.: How much did you pay?
 
OK, the office project is progressing slowly. Today I finally got some CAT5e cable as well as these:

DSC03749.JPG


and learned how to use them. Result is possibly the shortest working patch cable mankind has ever seen.

DSC03748.JPG


Note it says "100M" on it... I find it mildly ironic :)
 
ZeDestructor said:
Sadly I have no idea who did that, so I can't even go ask for pics :(



Neat. Looks like only 2 drives though. Won't that become a problem eventually? And what CPU is there on that?

P.S.: How much did you pay?
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1ghz, $150

I've put a terrbyte in it (spare drive)

and yes, it's only got space for 2 drives - I don't need anymore than that at this time and I wanted something nice and quiet
 
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leviathan said:
OK, the office project is progressing slowly. Today I finally got some CAT5e cable as well as these:

DSC03749.JPG


and learned how to use them. Result is possibly the shortest working patch cable mankind has ever seen.

DSC03748.JPG


Note it says "100M" on it... I find it mildly ironic :)
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What's the testing tool called and how good is it? I need to get some as well since I will be wiring my place.
 
So, I now has this 'lil beauty.... (PS sorry for crappy dark pictures, they looked better on the camera... :|)

VSCN1662.jpg

RSCN1663.jpg


It's pretty basic, but it suits my needs just fine atm...and I was just about ready to throw the old, outdated and a little bit 'broken' original Mac Mini under a bus. I'm still keeping it set up until I can get Office Suite sorted and get around to retrieving my old stuff I need off the old comp. All my uni stuff is ready, though. I was considering and Air for a awhile, but after considering the fact that the laptop would get lugged around (once I get a case, I can't find any I like yet <_<) I think the more robust nature of this one is probably a good thing.
 
Zesty said:
So, I now has this 'lil beauty.... (PS sorry for crappy dark pictures, they looked better on the camera... :|)

It's pretty basic, but it suits my needs just fine atm...and I was just about ready to throw the old, outdated and a little bit 'broken' original Mac Mini under a bus. I'm still keeping it set up until I can get Office Suite sorted and get around to retrieving my old stuff I need off the old comp. All my uni stuff is ready, though. I was considering and Air for a awhile, but after considering the fact that the laptop would get lugged around (once I get a case, I can't find any I like yet <_<) I think the more robust nature of this one is probably a good thing.
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Neat. Will you be installing Windows/Linux on it or will you be using pure OSX? Just so we know whether you're a macfag :p

As for the bag, I recommend a proper laptop backpack/shoulderbag as opposed to cases, but that's just my opinion, since I use my laptop wayyyy more than my books (and I don't really care about looking stylish)
 
Zesty said:
So, I now has this 'lil beauty.... (PS sorry for crappy dark pictures, they looked better on the camera... :|)

VSCN1662.jpg

RSCN1663.jpg


It's pretty basic, but it suits my needs just fine atm...and I was just about ready to throw the old, outdated and a little bit 'broken' original Mac Mini under a bus. I'm still keeping it set up until I can get Office Suite sorted and get around to retrieving my old stuff I need off the old comp. All my uni stuff is ready, though. I was considering and Air for a awhile, but after considering the fact that the laptop would get lugged around (once I get a case, I can't find any I like yet <_<) I think the more robust nature of this one is probably a good thing.
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Sweet, just make sure you got no problems with it cuz I had some terrible experience with Apple (its in the random thoughts thread)
 
prizrak said:
What's the testing tool called and how good is it? I need to get some as well since I will be wiring my place.
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The tool is called "XT-468", I got it from a hardware store for I think 10?. I'm pretty sure it can be had for less than that on the internet.

How good it is? To be honest, no idea. There are two pieces (master and remote) with connections for RJ-11 and RJ-45, both indicate connection or lack thereof on all 8 leads in the cable + ground, I'm not exactly sure what ground does. It correctly displayed full connectivity on a few pre-made cables I have, and seemed to correctly indicate faulty connectors on my self-made cable, until I finally got it right.
 
Zesty said:
So, I now has this 'lil beauty.... (PS sorry for crappy dark pictures, they looked better on the camera... :|)

It's pretty basic, but it suits my needs just fine atm...and I was just about ready to throw the old, outdated and a little bit 'broken' original Mac Mini under a bus. I'm still keeping it set up until I can get Office Suite sorted and get around to retrieving my old stuff I need off the old comp. All my uni stuff is ready, though. I was considering and Air for a awhile, but after considering the fact that the laptop would get lugged around (once I get a case, I can't find any I like yet <_<) I think the more robust nature of this one is probably a good thing.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say its robust per se, but most laptops will last if you take good care of them (there are exceptions to this of course...)

I have a hardshell case on my MBP, and I carry it around in a neoprene sleeve with the power adapter. Keeps everything nice and safe.
 
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