Talk:Category 3 cable

10mbps

Can CAT 3 cable support 10mbps LAN for cable lengths upto 60/70mtrs? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 212.138.47.16 (talk • contribs) 16:56, March 21, 2005 (UTC)

Yes. All standards set for UTP are for 100 meters, this length includes patchcords on both ends. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.189.113.185 (talk • contribs) 16:56, July 30, 2006 (UTC)

Physical characteristics of Cat3

What are the physical characteristics of Cat 3 cable? Number of conductors, AWG, twists per inch, etc.? Snottywong 17:40, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Yea, I was just wondering the same thing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.71.37.182 (talk) 04:07, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Indeed. A pic would be nice, as well. I mean, if you compare this to the size of the Cat5 article... you see where i'm coming from, right? It might just be a matter of personal opinion, but I believe that similar articles should be similarly structured. By that logic, this article needs a structure more like the Cat5 article -- 84.172.25.164 (talk) 11:06, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Unlike CAT5 through 7 cables, CAT3 can have as few as 2 pairs to beyond 100 pairs. 4 & 25 pairs are the most commonly available. 2 pair cable, while still around, isn't as popular as it once was. Pictures of CAT3 cable can be found on the websites of manufacturers like Commscope/Systimax, General Cable & Superior Essex. As with CAT5E through 7, CAT3 cables can be either Riser or Plenum rated. 64.208.159.230 (talk) 18:57, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

The category rating is about electrical performance. Things like crosstalk, frequency response, impedance. The higher categories have better performance. It is not about the number of pairs. The most common cables have 4 pairs. Larger cables are available for different category ratings. --Kvng (talk) 16:29, 5 March 2011 (UTC)

Wire gauge? (thickness of each conductor?) dhollm (talk) 22:50, 5 April 2018 (UTC)

VoIP

The article states that Cat 3 can be used for VoIP. VoIP is usually Ethernet. I'm sue there are some 10 Mb VoIP phones but my understanding is that most are now at least 100 Mb. These phones would not work on Cat 3 unless you manually configured network equipment to run at 10 Mb. Doesn't seem like a wise thing to do. Is VoIP over Cat 3 a common practice? --Kvng (talk) 14:44, 9 April 2010 (UTC)

I removed these dubious statements. --Kvng (talk) 18:15, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

CAT3 cable is fine for analog & digital phones. For VoIP, the best bet is to check the system documentation. 64.208.159.230 (talk) 19:01, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Cat5e+ Bias

I find the focus/bias on the "Cat5e or better" cabling dubious. If you are doing e.g. bleeding-edge modern smart home installations - in 2021 - then you use for cabling 1MBit CAN bus using shielded TP cable and (shielded) RJ11 connectors. All these connectors and cables are specified for Cat3. These are much more EMI resilient installations with real-time properties (contrary to ethernet) and also faster installations than the old KNX standard (9600 baud). Clearly, this article exhibits an Ethernet cognitive bias. LinguistManiac (talk) 07:10, 1 June 2021 (UTC)

Typo ?

Under "Replacement": " were often built with the higher performing Cat 5e cable required by 100BASE-TX."

100BASE-TX does not require Cat 5e. Cat 5e is for 1000BASE-TX connections. Cat5 is absolutely sufficient for 100BASE-TX under all circumstances.

Cat 5e and Cat 5 are the exact same thing. The very first Cat 5 standard missed a few details (esp. XT) and was obsoleted by Cat 5e. The following standard 11801 dropped the 'e' and the improved standard was just called Category 5. So, for any cables less than 20 years old there's no difference. And for borderline cases Cat 5e or the new Cat 5 is really required. --Zac67 (talk) 14:28, 7 June 2024 (UTC)