Ethernet cable works with pc A on network but ..

[matthewk]

This was something I had never seen before. A friend said he came into same problem before. Basically machine A has working connectivity on network using ethernet cable. Same cable is used on machine B at same ethernet plugin port but with no working connectivity. I tried a different cable for machine B, and the connection was working. To my knowledge, there was no CAT cable model number difference between the 2 cables. Anyone have experience with this or an idea what might have been problem with this cable? Note that the cable works just fine for machine A.

[darkfiber1010]

In most of the experience I've had, the cable is bad somewhere. Yeah it might look perfectly fine and work most of the time, but there is something in the cable (usually something in the terminations) that is off just enough to cause intermitent connectivity. For example, the way the cable is seated in machine A might be fine, but when it is plugged in to machine B it might be seated slightly differnt, just enough to cause what ever is off to act up. You could test the cable to check for this, but testers arn't exactly a house hold item so I wouldn't expect you to have one or to buy one just for one cable.

Edited September 6, 2005 by darkfiber1010