About Routers and Repeaters
4WRMB Repeater Options For Intelligent Fire Integrator™ Systems
12
IFI Routers/Repeaters Installation & Operation Manual - P/N: 53388:Rev: A1 5/5/09
Maximum wire lengths are listed in
and should be considered the ABSOLUTE
MAXIMUM. In many cases, where special care is not taken to protect the specified wire from
electrical noise, moisture, etc., reliable long-term operation cannot be sustained at those wire
lengths.
1.5 4WRMB Repeater Options For Intelligent Fire Integrator™
Systems
The 4WRMB is a physical layer repeater that allows transparent passage of network messages
between four network segments. The 4WRMB uses FTXC wire or FOXC fiber transceivers to
connect four network segments. The 4WRMB does not support the DFXC transceiver.
When using wire, each segment allows T-tapping of up to 64 transceivers with a maximum distance
of 1500' between any two nodes. A wire segment can have a maximum length of 8000' when only
one node is attached to the repeater on that segment.
When using fiber, each segment must be point-to-point only (repeater to repeater or repeater to a
single node). Each segment can tolerate up to 8db of attenuation.
Table 1.1 Router Wiring Distance Limitations
Router Type
Cable Type
Max Distance
NCB-IM phone line
Public switched telephone circuits
N/A
NCB-IM leased line
Leased line telephone circuits
N/A
NCB-IM “dry” copper
Voice grade (CAT5) copper pair, 22-24 AWG
*
* Unless specifically stated otherwise, all wire described is twisted, un-shielded, and
protected from electrical noise to the same extent computer network wiring would be if
run in the same areas.
6,000-8,000 ft.
High data grade copper pairs (CAT5), heavier than
normal gauge (such as 18 gauge or better) to lower
resistance
†
† The technical description for wire types normally specifies the wire gauge; for
instance, wire specified as CAT-5 is normally 22 or 24 gauge
.
It takes a special effort
to obtain wire that meets the electrical specifications (capacitance, characteristic
impedance, velocity factor), exceeds the attenuation, and is a lower gauge wire, and
technically the wire at that point would no longer be “CAT 5.” Jobs using the NCB-IM
at these wire distances should be approved by JCI prior to purchase.
15,000-20,000 ft.
14 to 18 gauge THHN power wire (not twisted)
3,000-4,000 ft.
NCB-EL to NCB-EL direct
CAT5 Ethernet crossover cable
300 ft.
NCB-EL to NCB-EL with
ENIC-HUB
CAT5 Ethernet cable
300+300=600 ft.
total
NCB-FL
Multi-mode fiber with ST connector
32,500 ft.
ROUTMB
‡
‡ Refer to the Intelligent Fire Integrator™
Echelon Gateway
manual for wiring distances.
