Long distance CobraNet run

Dale Runte

Looks like I will be setting up a Vi6 sooner than I thought. The run from console to equipment room will be in excess of 500 ft and I'm counting on using CobraNet to feed the entire system. I've never used Cat7, but will on this project. Considering the distance do I need a high speed switch or hub somewhere in the run?

weastham

You will need to place a switch somewhere in the middle of the run so that none of your wire segments exceed 100 meters.

I'd use multi mode fiber if I was in your place.

rob birch

The distance limitation on a cobranet system is dictated by the ethernet limitations.

In all cases when using Cat 5, Cat5E, Cat 6 or Cat 7 the maximum distance for any copper cabling is 100 metres.
the main difference is the transmission speed. so wikipedia says

# Cat 5: Currently unrecognized by TIA/EIA. Provided performance of up to 100 MHz, and was frequently used on 100 Mbit/s ethernet networks. May be unsuitable for 1000BASE-T gigabit ethernet.
# Cat 5e: Currently defined in TIA/EIA-568-B. Provides performance of up to 100 MHz, and is frequently used for both 100 Mbit/s and gigabit ethernet networks.
# Cat 6: Currently defined in TIA/EIA-568-B. It provides performance of up to 250 MHz, more than double category 5 and 5e.
# Cat 6a: Future specification for 10 Gbit/s applications.
# Cat 7: An informal name applied to ISO/IEC 11801 Class F cabling. This standard specifies four individually-shielded pairs (STP) inside an overall shield. Designed for transmission at frequencies up to 600 MHz.


If you need a longer single run then you will need to use fibre. If not use switches to buffer the signal.
Be aware of number of hops especially if you are not using 5.33ms latency, and to use 'non-blocking' switches.

Provide more equipment details and specs if you have any more questions.

Thanks

Rob