newbie cat 5 question!

Yes.

Many individuals would be using Cat5e patch cables to plug into a cable plant that is Cat5 or lower.

Same scenario.

Best Regards, News Reader

The difference is fairly small. A short cat5 cable should be close enough to work in a Cat5e system.

Unless you are close to the maximum 100m, a cat5 system should be good enough for gigabit thereat, and definitely is good enough for 100baseTX or lower.

-- glen

If you mix Cats you get the lowest rating as a result.

David

hmmm - wonder how my black cat rates compared to the beige cat of the neighbor ?

please explain exactly what you are trying to do ??

If you have a wired area with jacks using Cat5 or Cat5e and then buy Cat5 cables with plugs to patch from the wall jacks to the computers, or switches, hubs, routers, that is all OK - or any variation of this wired solution.

IF this is not your situation - then explain -

Looking back to the original question, I don't know what he means by extend. But yes, Cat5 is lower than Cat5e and a mixed system would qualify for the lower standard.

If extend means using Cat5 patch cables with a system that is otherwise Cat5e, that is allowed.

If extend means splicing cables together, it is generally recommended that you don't do that.

-- glen