Network people

[Charger440]

I have a client that has a network cable about 80 ft long. The maximum length of Cat5e is 328FT so it's well under that limit. However, the computer at the end of that run gets good ping time but only speedtests at 5Mb when the computers close to the router get 13+Mb.

The cable does run near electric but the electric is in conduit. It is possible the Keystones are Cat5 and not Cat5e.

Also, Even though router and NIC are Gb it only connects at 100Mb.

Any suggestions?

[Fred]

I would suggest replacing that cable with a better one. After all, 80 ft isn't that long. If that doesn't work, try using a different network card, since the current one may not be working well.

[Charger440]

The place also has a sonic wall that I have had to reset a couple times. I thought those were supposed to be rock solid. This one sure is not.

[Fred]

You can also try temporarily disabling any firewalls both in the low speed machine and in the router. And check if the router is not configured to limit the speed of that PC, just in case.

[Brink]

New wire like Fred indicated. Also test the new wire coiled with both ends near the router to eliminate the possibility of RF interference that may be found on the actual run length. It it works fast coiled but does not when installed then it must be interference along the run. If the coil is slow before installation, I'd be looking into a better power supply for the router (or a new router).

BTW they make shielded CAT6 STP CMR. Ideal for the kinds of situations where interference is present.

[steve2189]

I have a client that has a network cable about 80 ft long.
...
Any suggestions?

"A network cable". I'm sorry, could you be more vague?
What type of network cable?
Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 ... ?
Solid core cable or patch cable?

I had a similar problem where a long run of Cat5e patch cable only connected at 100 Mbit, but when replaced by solid core Cat5e cable, connected at 1000 Mbit. Patch cables are only intended to be used for short runs, to literally connect or 'patch' two devices together.

[Charger440]

I have a client that has a network cable about 80 ft long.
...
Any suggestions?

"A network cable". I'm sorry, could you be more vague?
What type of network cable?
Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 ... ?
Solid core cable or patch cable?

I had a similar problem where a long run of Cat5e patch cable only connected at 100 Mbit, but when replaced by solid core Cat5e cable, connected at 1000 Mbit. Patch cables are only intended to be used for short runs, to literally connect or 'patch' two devices together.

Steve, I could be

It was actually Cat5e solid. However, this post was the result of my ASSUMING, which I should know better.
It was using a cable that might have been Cat5, not sure it was that good as it was not marked. The Cat5e cable that they paid someone to run back there, was not being used. Once I figured that out and slapped myself a couple times I put in a gigabit switch and connected all 4 devices to that Cat5e line. All devices connect at 1Gb including the uplink to the router and both computer speedtest and ping test the same as the office computer instead of 3/4 less.

Now the only issue is a possible defective SonicWall, everything else is working great.