Beyond the Standards: Extending the Reach of Copper Cabling

Copper cabling standards limit Ethernet networks to 100 meters, but newer designs claim to extend this. This white paper explores extending 1000BASE-T beyond standard limits.

Panduit's analysis and testing show:

• Category 6 and 6A cables improve signal-to-noise ratio over Category 5
• 22 AWG copper cables have lower insertion loss than 24 AWG
• A 150-meter channel (140m of 22 AWG Category 6 cable plus 10m of patch cords) can support 1000BASE-T
• Channels beyond 150 meters face reliability issues

The paper details parameters like insertion loss, propagation delay, and signal-to-noise ratio affecting extended reach.

Read to understand the capabilities and limitations of extended-reach copper cabling.