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Cat 5e network cabling faulty - easier to fix, or better to upgrade?

Posted by Sue Payne, on Sun 26 Oct 2014 03:21pm

Purchased a 6 bed house with Cat5e supposedly installed throughout. Tried testing with an ethernet tester, and it appears some wires are crossed. Is this something easily fixed, our are we best stripping the lot out and upgrading to Cat6 (which is what we are thinking)? If we do the latter, is that a matter of drilling through walls, or can cable be pulled through from existing wall sockets? Just trying to get an idea of whether we are looking at a huge job to get Cat5e working, or whether it would be best to start a

Alfie Jenks

Sun 26 Oct 2014 10:32pm

if the cables are crossed, simply chop the ethernet plug off the end and make off into a new one, or reterminate the cable into the outlet box using the appropriate tool.

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David Newton

Sun 26 Oct 2014 05:59pm

Hi Sue can't give a definite answer without giving a test of the circuits! But for most home networks cat 5 will probably be ok. Also if your testers are showing crossed wires it will probably only need re-terminating as there are two combinations of connections used. hope this is of help. regards D. Newton

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