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Ethernet Wire Length Issues?


TesterGuy2008

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I have a 10 inch in wall, model C4-TSWM10-E-W that was close to my network switch and controller. I decided to move this to the other side of the room as it would be more convenient as I am remodeling my room.

However, when I moved it, it no longer finds the controller, in fact it won't even connect. The light on the network switch will not even light. I thought maybe the cable is bad - so verified the ethernet cable works by plugging in a computer, and it connects.

So I moved it back to the original location and it powered up and found the controller.

Some folks suggested that the ethernet cable length could be a problem? But I am only have a cable 30 feet away, and my laptop works fine - connects with no issues. I tried running a new cable but to no avail, the 10 inch touch unit will not connect.

Now the cable length at the original location is about 7 feet ?

Do you have other suggestions?

Others suggested that I get a USB wireless device and go wireless - however I am not sure if this is going to work as I would need to load the drivers for that.

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Ethernet can be 100 meters in length so length is not an issue here. Sounds like your Ethernet cable is not wired correctly. Did you make the new Ethernet cable or purchase it pre made? If you made it my guess would be that TX and RX are crossed.

Testing with a computer could produce incorrect results. For example, the computer could have MDIX NIC and your switch might not have MDIX. See the following page for an explanation if MDIX.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medium_dependent_interface

In the case above if TX and RX were crossed the PC would still connect since it would detect that TX and RX were crossed and internally flip the TX and RX pair.

I am just guessing about the cause of your problem since I am not there to see what is acctually happening. The best way to verify the cable is to use a cable tester.

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Thanks for your suggestion.

However, what I do not understand is the cable that was created by my installer is a straight through cable - meaning the RX and TX wires are not crossed. I can compare both connectors oriented in the same way and the wire colors match - not cross over one from the other.

I took a cable I created - which is a straight through cable - only 3 foot in length, and the Wall unit connects without an issue.

So what confuses me is that I need to create a cross over cable for this to work?

Thanks for your help

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Let's walk through some trouble shooting steps

1. Visually verify cable end to end. You have done this. If the cable is terminated 568A the wire colors will be

GW-G-OW-BL-BLW-O-BRW-BR

If it is 569B

OW-O-GW-BL-BLW-G-BRW-BR

Here is a nice document on wiring a Cat-5 cable.

http://www.duxcw.com/digest/Howto/network/cable/cable5.htm

2. Test the cable end to end. Since you attached your PC and were able to connect it seems that the cable is fine.

3. Check network settings on the TS. Does the TS get the correct IP, subnet mask and default gateway and DNS?

4. Determine the IP of the TS and try to ping it from a host on your network.

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