CAT5e RJ45 splitter with CAT6 network: compatibility & performance

Question

I need to connect 2 PCs on a single RJ45 socket on the wall. The network is wired with CAT6 cables.

I have seen a few RJ45 splitters that seem to do just that, but they are all for CAT5e cables. Here is the description of one of them:

This splitter adapter will allow you to use two Ethernet devices in one spare RJ45 wall socket female port [...]. Use one splitter to allow two devices to be plugged into a single 8-core (4-pair) CAT5E UTP faceplate. Then use another splitter at the other end of the cable run to split the signal to two ports in the hub or patch panel.
Cat5e only utilises 2 of the four pairs of wires (wires 1,2,3,6) inside the cable. These splitters allow data from one connection to be sent down the usual wires 1,2,3,6 and the data from the second connection to be sent down the other cables (wires 4,5,7,8).

• Would those splitters work with a CAT6 network?
• Are there any reasons why the bandwidth available to each PC would be different from the bandwidth they would get if they were connected directly to the wall socket?

Feel free to point me to a better solution if there is one.

Answer 1

It isn't the cable that's the problem. That's just a matter of insulation and manufacturing tolerances, the actual cable pairs are the same with either cable. The important bit is what protocol you're going to running over the wires. Some protocols only use two pairs, others use all four, and obviously you'll only be able to use a splitter if you're running a protocol that only requires two pairs. Also, not all the pairs are created equal (from a twists-per-metre perspective), and so again, depending on protocol and NIC, you may or may not have problems with cross-talk.