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Cat 6, Cat 5 cables and Netgear FS105 Ethernet Switch
johnwh
Posts: 392 Forum Member
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I had to replace a Cat 5 cable in my wired network so bought a Cat 6 just to keep up with technology. New cable works fine connected to PC directly, but when I run it through my Netgear FS105 ethernet switch with a Cat 5 cable (don't have a cat 6) from the switch to the PC, it won't work, worked fine when the old cable worked.
Do I need to replace the Ethernet switch with a more up to date one or is it the Cat 5 cable the problem?
If it is the switch which should I buy?
Do I need to replace the Ethernet switch with a more up to date one or is it the Cat 5 cable the problem?
If it is the switch which should I buy?
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What does this cable connect? Is it a router to a switch, a PC to a switch, etc
But if you do want to upgrade your switch, go for any "gigabit ethernet" one you like the look of - they're not very expensive and you get the benefit of gigabit speeds between all of your computers
So something that insists on having CAT 6 cabling might not work too well on CAT 5 but anything that works OK on CAT 5 should work equally well on CAT 6.
I really can't understand this either, I am connecting to the Ethernet switch because I have other wired computers and a wifi repeater also on the network. The cat 5 cables I am using were working fine before I replaced the cable, so shouldn't be a problem as you say. I have tried several cat 5 cables and none of them work.
Just to get it straight in our collective DS heads
From what you are saying I am assuming that your CAT 6 cable goes from the switch back to the router and you then have CAT 5 cables from the switch to the various other devices you list. is this correct?
If nothing works off the switch then that can only mean one of three things.
The CAT 6 cable is faulty
The Switch is faulty
The Router is faulty.
My first test would be to use a different cable between switch and router to see if that has any effect. Even if this means moving the switch and some device to test with if you don't have a suitable length cable.
If it still doesn't work then you need to eliminate the switch and the router. Which would mean connecting some device directly to the router on the same port as you are using for the switch. If that works OK then the switch may be faulty.
The only real way to test that is to swap it for a known working one or put it into a network that you know works in place of a working switch.
The real pain in the wotsits comes when every thing works fine in isolation but simply refuses to work together. That is when you start uttering words your mother would not like you using and contemplate chucking the whole lot in the nearest skip
If nothing works off the switch then that can only mean one of three things.
The CAT 6 cable is faulty
The Switch is faulty
The Router is faulty.
Yes, The cable is connected from the switch back to the router.
The Cat 6 cable is new and when connected directly from the router to the PC it works fine, only when connected to the switch is there a problem.
The router is working fine in all respects. wired to ethernet, wifi, and BT TV via broadband.
That would seem to suggest that the switch is faulty? It has worked fine for the last few years, or there is a problem with cat 6 cables to the switch?
I just ought to add that BT TV YouView box is connected directly to the hub by a different cat 5 cable.
If you have an alternative cable from close to the switch back to the router plug that into the switch in place of the CAT 6 cable and see if it now works. And plug the CAT 6 cable into the BT TV box. If both connections work OK then just keep it like that.
But if the CAT 5 cable doesn't work with the switch then you could have a switch fault. Probably just coincidence it went when you put in the new cable. Or of course it could have been a switch fault not a cable fault that prompted you to change the cable in the first place?
There is no point buying anything new until you determine what is causing the problem. The ports on the Netgear switch should have two LEDs above them to show what speed they are operating at and if there is any network activity. If the ports are connected to some other device and the cable and device are operating correctly the Activity LED should be flashing away and the Speed LED should be static with the colour indicating what speed the connection is using.
If none of these LEDs on any port are operating then that suggests a dead switch, or the power supply feeding it. The power LED would be out as well if either switch or PSU were dead.
If the LEDs on the port that the CAT6 cable is plugged into are not lit up but those the PC is plugged into are then that suggests the switch is alive but for some reason does not register the connection to the router. Simple first test is to try the CAT 6 cable on all five ports and see if any of those light up.
The switch should be Auto MDX which means it senses which way round the TX and RX data pair are connected and sorts itself out accordingly. So it shouldn't need a crossover cable from the router. But if you did have a crossover cable originally and have plugged a straight through cable into the same port it might not work if the Auto sensing plays silly games. So worth trying a different port.
If none of the ports light up with the CAT 6 cable plugged in then changing the cable to the PC isn't going to have any effect.
One further test you could try. Take the switch and a collection of cables down to where the BT TV box is located. If the BT Tv box is working and can see t'interweb OK then you know the cable plugged into it is also OK.
So unplug the cable from the back of the BT TV box and plug it into the switch. See if the port LEDs light up, try all five ports if necessary. If none of them light up then you have a switch issue. If they do light up plug a cable from the switch to the BT TV box and check it can still see the internet. if it can then the switch and that cable are OK.
If the switch still refuses to work on the CAT 6 cable then you have a problem with that cable. I've seen some weird stuff go on with ethernet cables. I've seen a cable work perfectly OK on one device but not another. Inspecting the cable showed that one of the data pairs had the two wires in the pair reversed. For example pin 1 on the A end plug should got to pin 2 on the B end plug and pin2 A end to pin 2 B end. But a wiring error meant pin 1 A end went to pin 2 B end and pin 2 A end to pin 1 B end. Some kit can be sensitive to this sort of error and others ignore it as I discovered.
Just tried another Cat 5 cable (new) still doesn't work.
The YouView box is at the other end of the house miles away from the switch and indeed does not get signals through the switch, it is a completely separate circuit.
I am just beginning to wonder if the damage to the old cable has shorted the electronics to the switch. I was not getting internet on the old cable and traced the problem to old damage which I thought was just the outer layer of PVC sheathing, on closer inspection I found that one of the tiny cables had parted company and worse than that might have been shorting onto a bare wire of another tiny cable - hence replaced it. But had been in use for about 6 years with no problems.
To answer your other questions, the switch is powered up ok, and when I plug cables into it the lights start flashing.
MUST be the switch that is damaged?
I will try out cables to BT box for internet when I get chance.
You say the LEDs light up. Does that include the ones on the port the CAT 6 cable is plugged into? Have you tried the CAT 6 cable into all five ports on the switch? If any damage was caused by the original cable then there is a chance it only affected the port the cable was plugged into. So the other ports could be perfectly OK. Same applies to the router port depending on the cable damage. But as you posted that the CAT 6 cable worked plugged directly into the PC it seems likely the router is OK.
It is sounding like the switch may be dodgy but it would still be worth plugging into the feed to the BT TV box as that is currently separate to the switch so shouldn't have been affected by this cable damage you found. That would certainly confirm if the switch is working or not.
The router is definitely ok, tried switching cables around as much as I could.
Tried Cat 6 and Cat 5 cables in different slots in switch, always lights up ok.
Really think it is the switch now, I bought it a few years ago from a car boot sale for just a couple of pounds, so no big deal to replace. I will try suggestion with BT box.
Thanks for the tip, I have had problems with catches before but this cable is ok and located properly.
Trying it with the BT box will certainly help tell if the switch is OK or not. It is sounding like something has upset it and it has stopped working properly but always worth double checking before you chuck it in the bin.
Thanks to all for your help.