What is the Maximum Cable Distance Between Hubs and Nodes?
The node-to-hub and hub-to-hub cable length limit for 4 pair UTP Cat 3 or 4 cable is 100 meters. The limit for Cat 5 wire is 200 meters. Fiber optic links can be up to 500 meters when 800nm transceivers and 2 kilometers when 1300nm transceivers are used. 2 pair STP links (when available) can be up to 100 meters. The cable limits for copper cable are due to copper’s susceptibility to noise and cross talk. Fiber optic links don’t have this problem are limited in length by the time it takes for a signal to travel from one end to the other. It is important to note that there is no total cable length limit for a VG network.
