Category 5 vs Category 6 Question

[Wx4U]

I have been using a cat 5 50ft cable with usb extenders for a web cam on the roof. I had used a 6 ft regular usb extension from the camera usb connector to the usb extender. At Fry's I found longer cat 6 shielded cable which I purchased. Subquent testing I found the ptl function of the logtech pro 9000 does not appear as smooth as before. Is there a significant in the specs that a could affect the camera performance?  By the way, the picture is fine.

[DanS]

Cat. 6 cable has better specifications than Cat. 5 as this article can explain. http://www.broadbandutopia.com/caandcaco.html

Dan

[WeatherGoose]

I have been using a cat 5 50ft cable with usb extenders for a web cam on the roof. I had used a 6 ft regular usb extension from the camera usb connector to the usb extender. At Fry's I found longer cat 6 shielded cable which I purchased. Subquent testing I found the ptl function of the logtech pro 9000 does not appear as smooth as before. Is there a significant in the specs that a could affect the camera performance?  By the way, the picture is fine.

Based on my experience with my Pro 9000, I have found that the camera is very picky about any "preceived" run over the 8 feet the camera comes attached to.   It needs to be buffered and USB signal maintained perfectly. I am using a 16 foot repeater cable I bought from Mono Price to get the camera to my iMAC and that has worked great for me.  No frame rate issues and no video issues at all for over a year now.

It could be that your 6 feet of unbuffered extension is just a wee bit too long for the camera to be happy with it.  I have a friend who is using a Cat5 USB extension system as opposed to a chain of standard repeaters for his VP2 connection, and he is constantly having problems with drops.  I keep telling him to just buy a few of the same repeaters I use, and chain them instead.

If you can eliminate that 6 feet of unbuffered extension, I bet it will work better.

[Wx4U]

From your reference Dan:
" Are the connectors for category 5e and category 6 different? Why are they more expensive?
Although category 6 and category 5e connectors may look alike, category 6 connectors have much better transmission performance. For example, at 100 MHz, NEXT of a category 5e connector is 43 decibels (dB), while NEXT of a category 6 connector is 54 dB. This means that a cat6 connector couples about 1/12 of the power that a cat5e connector couples from one pair to another pair. Conversely, one can say that a category 6 connector is 12 times less “noisy” compared to a category 5e connector. This vast improvement in performance was achieved with new technology, new processes, better materials and significant R&D resources, leading to higher costs for manufacturers."
Would this reduce the voltage transmitted on the cable from the computer to the camera?
MotherGoose: The 9000 is mounted on the chimney and has worked very well with 50 ft of cat-5e.  I want to move a computer and need a longer cable. My plan was to increase the cat-5e length. I just saw the shielded cat-6 on sale and purchased it. I did a test hook up before running it through the attic and out on the roof. That is when noticed the jerky PTL function (which I didn't have with the cat-5e). 

[Bushman]

It never hurts to throw ferrite cores (Monoprice again or Dealextreme) on these things.    BTW, the wire guage and quality (insulation thiknes etc.) of cables matters.

[DanS]

You mention the test run through the attic when you noticed the jerky PTL function. Is this a different run path than the old cat 5 run uses? If so there may be the possiblilty of the cat 6 running over (below the ceiling) or nearby an interference source, smoke alarms, sat. dish ant. overhead, etc.?.?

[Wx4U]

  No, to the wife's dismay, I stretched the cat 6 through a couple of rooms. Also, I have about 75 ft of cat 5 which I did likewise with usb extenders on each end.
The cat 5 work okay. My original installation (cat-5e) is through the attic and worked well. I just need a long cable to the computer.