>Date:    Wed, 13 Jan 1999 15:19:40 +0800
>From:    JEFFREY <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Network Card help needed
>
>I have a PC that is about 150 Meters away from my hub (3Com 8/TPC) that need
>to be connected using UTP Cat 5 cable. Can anybody please recommend a
>network card that can handle such a lengthy cable ?

Hey, this isn't Star Trek:
we can't invent the science as we go along
to accommodate the plot :-)

If you want your network connection to work reliably
you must stay within the design constraints.

If you need to connect beyond 100 metres you cannot do it
within specification using one length of twisted pair cable.

You could just try it: it might work, and if it doesn't,
you have a nice length of cable you can use somewhere else.
If it works, but not reliably, you'll wish you followed the specs!

You could join two UTP segments using a hub as a repeater,
but you probably won't want to find power for that mid-link.

If you can relax your requirement for UTP you can do it
in one segment using 10Base2 (thin ethernet) which has
a maximum segment length of 185 metres. You can use hubs
as 10BaseT/10Base2 converters.
Watch out for maximum number of segments traversed if this is
part of a larger network. If so, you can save wasting a segment
at the PC by using a 10Base2 (BNC) network interface card.

If you specified UTP Cat 5 cable because you wanted 100BaseT
(in which case you should be paying _very_ close attention
to the engineering constraints) then you are stuck with
two segments of UTP or you can go to fibre-optic cable.
This is more expensive in cable and interface hardware but
does give the advantage of being immune to electromagnetic
disturbances, so you won't be adding a 150 metre aerial to
your network to pick up ground surges from electrical storms
and whatever man-made interference you have in your locality.


Len Warner <[log in to unmask]> http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~len/ ICQ:10120933

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