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Cat 5 Works Directly But Not Through a Switch or Router.

Tags:
  • Routers
  • Switch
  • Networking
  • Connection
  • Internet
Last response: in Networking
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September 28, 2014 2:58:03 PM

Ran some Cat-5 from a router to a switch downstairs. If I plug the cable directly into the computer, I get internet. If I plug it into the switch, and then connect the computer to the switch, I get no internet, but it does connect to the network.

I have gone through and checked DHCP and other basic settings, everything seems to be in order.

I also took it all upstairs and connected "on the table" with a shorter cable and everything worked as it should.

Will a Cat-5 that's not wired correctly or maybe a few pins with weak connection behave like this (providing internet directly but not through a switch) or is it likely a different issue?

More about : cat works directly switch router

September 28, 2014 3:03:09 PM

You could have damaged ends on the cable. It is not real common if it is a commercial made cable but it does take practice if you made it yourself.

The difference between the switch and the PC is the based on how the ports are internally wired. It generally does not make a difference if everything is 1g but 100m connections still sometimes have issue since the MDI/MDIX stuff sometime will be confused by a poor cable.
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September 28, 2014 3:05:46 PM

Is the cable straight through or crossover?
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September 28, 2014 3:07:03 PM

jackstrr said:
Is the cable straight through or crossover?


Straight through.

It's a Netgear FS105 switch, which I'm told shouldn't care which type of cable anyways right?
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September 28, 2014 3:07:50 PM

You need to use straight through cable from router to switch, not crossover
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September 28, 2014 3:10:07 PM

Alright everything SHOULD be fine, what model is the switch? And how old is it? Some switches if old only use crossover, if all else fails, the cable is defective and you should replace it :) 

EDIT:

In some cases yes it matters depending on how old the switch is, back in the day you could only use crossover, now you should only really use straight through
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September 28, 2014 3:14:33 PM

jackstrr said:
Alright everything SHOULD be fine, what model is the switch? And how old is it? Some switches if old only use crossover, if all else fails, the cable is defective and you should replace it :) 


It's a Netgear FS105.
I just find it odd that I am surfing the web when connected directly, but not through the switch even though I am connected to the network. Seems like a weird problem for a cable....but maybe it's more common than I would think.

I'll try new connectors on the cable and see what happens.
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September 28, 2014 3:18:06 PM

CAT5 should work, I use it on a hub. Maybe with a switch you need to denote a port and MAC address.
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September 28, 2014 3:28:51 PM

Delroy Monjo said:
CAT5 should work, I use it on a hub. Maybe with a switch you need to denote a port and MAC address.


No switches like the FS105 are just a step above a hub. No way to configure them. When you built the cable, did you follow the 568B colorcode ? You always want to follow the 568B color code on both ends of a straight through ethernet cable.

Since it sounds like you are going from your router to the switch, you WOULD need a crossover cable for that link. 100Mbit switches don't always have automatic crossover support. Do you get a link light on both ends of the uplink to the router when you plug in the switch? If not, then you need a crossover for that. 568A color code on one end and 568B on the other.
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September 28, 2014 3:32:47 PM

Yes, 568B was used.
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September 28, 2014 3:34:03 PM

Sounds like a defective cable
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September 28, 2014 6:58:58 PM

jackstrr said:
Sounds like a defective cable


Not so much the cable but the connectors. On one end the White/Brown looked a hair lower than the others, replaced it and all worked great.

Thanks for the advice everyone!
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