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#19386 12/26/02 05:57 PM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,056
R
Redsy Offline OP
Member
Is Cat 3 cable obsolete?
I have a 1000' roll I'd like to use up for a residential remodeling project. (Phone & internet.)
Is it sufficient ?

#19387 12/26/02 06:01 PM
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 840
C
Member
If it were my house, I would use the cat 3.


Peter
#19388 12/26/02 07:07 PM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 209
S
Member
All depends what you want to do with it. In my honest, and uninformed opinion, Cat 3 would be fine for telephone and dial up modem lines. However if you envision there to be a higher data load placed on the cable then you should go Cat 5. FYI, the new homes here in Southern Ca say that they are all wired in with Cat 5 wiring.
Scott

#19389 12/26/02 07:31 PM
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 210
S
Member
You can get by running the cat-3 for phone lines, but I would still run Cat-5 to locations where computers are likely to be set up. Cat-3 is becoming obsolete with Cat-6 on the market.

#19390 12/26/02 10:35 PM
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 444
S
Member
My practice is to use CAT3 where there are known phone lines. CAT5 for everything else.

#19391 12/26/02 11:42 PM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 30
R
Member
Ok the real skinny!!!

Catagory 3 24gauge 4pair will run a local area networks at upto 10mega bits per sec.
we have ran upto 100 mbs. but its not listed as such... the longer the run the more at risk.

hope this helps..

[This message has been edited by RandyO (edited 12-26-2002).]

#19392 12/26/02 11:57 PM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 141
A
Member
At long last! I no longer feel like a voice in the wilderness.

For a long time I've held that cat 3 is plenty good for voice lines and standard modems. And here in high-tech Northern California, everyone seems to think it's gotta be cat 5 or better--even for voice lines.

The cat 3 is so much easier than cat 5 to dress and punch down on 66 blocks (which I use for bigger residential installs), I'll go out of my way to get it.

Cliff

#19393 12/27/02 07:06 PM
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 324
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Member
CAT3 is not obsolete! In a residential install it is fine as the others have said above. CAT3 is the minimum cable accepted by BICSI (the NEC for voice and data). I am sure one day it will be obsolete... but till then PULL IT.

#19394 12/27/02 08:10 PM
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 360
T
Member
Or if nothing else, sell it to the local HO railroad club to use for the control wiring of their train set. [Linked Image]

TW

PS just run it. I am on a DSL line off of very old cat 3, and it is working fine.

#19395 12/27/02 09:34 PM
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 20
N
Member
Ok ok.. rotfl.. I must add to this.. I know about all this..
Cat1 - Phones
Cat2 - Phones
Cat3 - Phones/10BaseT
Cat5 - Data
Cat5e - Data
Cat6 - Data

Thats a cat rating from a text book from my lan specialist class.. All you have to do is make sure the color code is the same on either side of the cat3 for the data. but for the cost involved in the Cat5 (52 or so buks for a 1000' roll) its better to just use Cat3 for the phones and Cat5 for the data..

And no, Cat3 is much alive.. you can buy it at home depot, and it is widely used for phones/modem lines by some data installation crews.. Its kind of like the old BNC, its still usefull in some applications but there is another newer shinier cable in front of the Cat3

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