100Base-T Cabling Guidelines

This section describes 100Base-T cabling guidelines and some common configurations for Catalyst 2800 modules. The following cabling guidelines apply to a 100Base-T network:

The maximum length for an Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cable segment is 100 meters.

Any cable segment longer than 100 meters must be fiber.

A 100Base-T repeater is equivalent to 95 meters of cable.

The maximum cable length between any two nodes on a repeated network is 305 meters.



To determine your cable budget, use the following formula:

400 - (R x 95) = Maximum cable length between any two nodes (in meters)

R represents the number of 100Base-T repeaters.

Table 3-2 lists the maximum cable length between two nodes in a 100Base-T network.

Table 3-2: Cabling Limits in a 100Base-T Network

Number of Repeaters Maximum Cable Length Between Two Nodes

0 400 meters
1 305 meters
2 210 meters

Note For switch-to-switch or switch-to-server (0 repeaters) and full duplex operation, the maximum cable length between any two nodes extends to two kilometers using fiber.

Tags: Networking , cabling

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