Cat6 Network cable unplugged?!

[amed]

Hello!
I've been pulling at my bald head where hair used to be all day. I need some help diagnosing a network problem.

I recently bought 1000' of Cat6 FTP cable for a home wiring project. I have a gigabit router (DLink DIR-655) & switch (Fry's generic), and all of the machines that I intend to connect directly (wired) to the network have gigabit ethernet ports; All of these computers' ethernet ports are built into their motherboards.

The problem is that the cat6 cables that I cut don't seem to be recognized correctly. In fact each machine says that the network cable is unplugged (yes I double checked that it was actually plugged in). I can get it to work at a slower speed. I have to go into the Device Manager, and in the Network Adapter's Advanced Properties tab, set the "Speed & Duplex" option to "10 mbps full duplex." It defeats the purpose of upgrading the network to gigabit if I have to limit each machine to 10 mbps.

I have cut three ~50' cables, and they each give this problem. I cut a fourth 5' cat6 cable, and connected my modem to my router. This connection does not seem to have a problem.

I have verified that the drivers are up to date on each machine. Each wire passes a simple connectivity test using a cable tester.

On my existing Cat5 connection, I am able to download at about 17mbps, using the Cat6 at "10 mbps full duplex" it drops to 9mbps. My service provider is supposed to be giving me 15 with occasional increases.

Could the wire be bad and still test ok? Any other ideas?

Please help me if you can.

 

[Frank4d]

Incorrect pairing of the wires is a common error with home built cables. Connector pins 1 & 2, 3 & 6, 4 & 5 and 7 & 8 must be paired, or you will have the problem you are experiencing.

Here is a guide to building cables: http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Network-Cable

 

[cybersloth]

make sure that you have properly terminated your cables to CAT6 standard using CAT6 plugs and sockets, my bro in law is a wire monkey and he told me the connectors are diferent from CAT5.

Maby more research is required, here are some links that may contain some helpfull info, please note that i do not endorse any products or tools shown, these links are to help you with research.

http://www.connectworld.net/syscon/support.htm

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Difference_between_cat5_and_cat6_cables

http://www.lanshack.com/make_cat_6_cable.aspx
http://www.lanshack.com/cat5e-tutorial.aspx

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/29573203/Bob-smith-termination-in-Ethernet/

http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-diy/808518-simple-question-should-we-cable-cat6.html

Good Luck

 

[amed]

White/Orange, Orange, White/Green, Blue, White/Blue, Green, White/Brown, Brown

I've used this wire order for all of them. Also, I've redone the ends multiple times with both the normal RJ45 8P8C cap and the one with 2 rows.

It's certainly possible that I've crimped them wrong, but then wouldn't the connection between the modem & router be having a problem? The modem says the connection to the router is gigabit.

 

[JohnWill]

You probably need a cable tester to make sure the crimps are good.

 

[amed]

New Development:
I went out and bought 25' of Cat6 Stranded UTP. (Remember my cable is 1000' of Cat6 Solid FTP).

First I verified that the computer & router were working by connecting the wire between them.

Then I practiced removing one end and replacing it 4x, using both types of heads (one row of 8, two rows of 4), with and without a load bar. All 4 times it still worked.

So the evidence is strong that the 1000' of cable that I bought is bad. I find it hard to believe all 1000' of it is bad, but is there a way to test?

 

[JohnWill]

Well, if there's a break in the cable, the only real way to find it is with a TDR tester which will tell you how many feet down the cable the break/short is.