Networking Guru's, Hopefully a simple question...Can someone identify this???

[Rooster286]

Found a spool of CAT5 (or what I believe to be cat 5) @ work that has about 500 or so feet left. This is where it gets a bit odd....When I stipped the cable, I found the normal 8 wires but it also seems as if there is fiber optic inside as well....wtf is this? It's labled CAT5 on the outer casing but all the CAT5 i've bought in the past (spooled) has never had fiber line. And does anyone know the wiring config(pinout) for standered RJ45 8 position plugs?

I think its

1 - White Orange
2 - Orange
3 - White Green
4 - Blue
5 - White Blue
6 - Green
7 - White Brown
8 - Brown

But I really am not sure if thats patch or straight through

and help is appreciated

Pic Of Cable

The Casing has the following wording on it...

MOHAWK/CDT E153612 4PR 24 AWG (UL) c(UL) CMR OR MPR --- ETL VERIFIED TO TIA?EIA 568-1 CAT5 M55436 (1998/22746) 0147090 FT

 

[amdskip]

Thats just normal cat5 and that fiber optic looking stuff is just some material that is somewhat of an insulator of sorts manufacturers use when making cable. I suppose it provides something for them to wrap the little cable around before coating the cable.

 

[Damaged]

1) Cable is neither "straight-through" nor "crossover" until you crimp it: cable is cable is cable.

2) You're just looking at CAT-5, or maybe CAT-5E.

I only count 8 wires there.

Oh, possible it's bad, meaning they didn't apply insulation to the 8th wire. OR, but I don't see this from your pic, that it's STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) instead of UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair). In layman's terms: uninsulated versus insulated.

 

[Rooster286]

yeah, i'm a dummy... I meant the layout I wasn't sure if it was 568B or A and worded it completely wrong

Thanks for the help though guys..I've just never seen that "fiber" in the middle before...prolly because I've bought all my cable from Home Depot and it's prolly crap...this I got from work as leftovers

 

[Crab cake]

That looks like the tear thread to me. You pull on that thread to tear the plastic lining. I have to say that's one big one though. I've nver seen it that big.

 

[ScottMac]

It could be a "strength member" : it helps to keep the cable from stretching whle being pulled. As mentioned, it could be a "rip cord."

The printing on the outside of the jacket will say "Certified Category 5 (5e, 6, whatever)."

"EIT/TIA 568A" mentioned on the jacket does not refer to the termination, it refers to the set of conventions/rules followed for the production of the cable.

Good Luck

Scott