[Hidden-tech] Network question

[Tom Kopec]

just to clear (or muddy) the waters on some technical details.

1) gigabit ethernet uses all four pairs; 10M and 100M ethernet generally 
use fewer pairs.
2)ethernet hubs are 'bad', because when you have hubs you can have 
collisions and backoffs. Hubs can multiply the effect of a bad cable. 
any modern ethernet switch, however, will never have a collision on any 
port.
3) a bad cable can raise heck, because it may 'kind of' work. In some of 
my work, we push ethernet to its limits, and I've had to deal with the 
bizarro effects of bad cables more often than you'd believe.
4) Matt is dead on as to process: start from the uplink and work 
backwards, and ditch any hubs. Be careful when measuring throughput that 
there is no other traffic.

...tom