NETGEAR SW510 - Switch, Installation Manual, Page: 38 / 42

Installation Guide for the Model SW510 and Model SW518 Ethernet Switches
C-2 Ethernet and Cabling Guidelines
Cable Specifications
Category 5 twisted pair cable must be used for 100 Mbps connections. For 10 Mbps connections,
Category 3, 4, or 5 cable can be used; however, NETGEAR highly recommends Category 5.
Category 5 cable will prevent unnecessary expenses or confusion if you upgrade to Fast Ethernet.
Table 6-1 lists the electrical requirements of cables.
Twisted Pair Cables
For two devices to communicate, the transmitter of each device must be connected to the receiver
of the other device. The crossover function is usually implemented internally as part of the
circuitry in the device. Some repeaters and switch ports are media-dependent interfaces with
crossover ports, referred to as MDI-X or Normal ports. Computer ports and PC adapter card ports
are usually media-dependent interface ports, referred to as MDI or Uplink ports. Refer to the
installation instructions in
Chapter 4, “Installation ,” for appropriate cable use and connection.
Table 5-1. Electrical requirements of Category 3, 4, and 5 cables
Specification Category 3 Category 4 Category 5
Number of pairs Four Four Four
Impedance 100
Ω ±
15% 100
Ω ±
15% 100
Ω ±
15%
Mutual capacitance at 1 KHz
≤
6.6 nF
per 100 m
≤
5.6 nF
per 100 m
≤
5.6 nF
per 100 m
Maximum attenuation
(dB per 100 m, at 20 C)
at 4 MHz: 5.6 at 4 MHz: 4.3 at 4 MHz: 8.2
at 10 MHz: 9.8 at 10 MHz: 7.2 at 31 MHz: 11.7
at 16 MHz: 13.1 at 16 MHz: 8.9 at 100 MHz: 22
NEXT loss (dB minimum) at 4 MHz: 32 at 4 MHz: 47 at 16 MHz: 44
at 10 MHz: 26 at 10 MHz: 41 at 31 MHz: 39
at 16 MHz: 23 at 16 MHz: 38 at 100 MHz: 32
SW510.bk Page 2 Wednesday, March 12, 1997 10:49 AM