Greetings,
I'm connecting to a CIX 100 locally with a 10 foot cross over cable, no problem. I tried to connect to the same CIX with the same laptop with a 25 foot cross over cable and get host unreachable once and then Failed three times on a ping. I tested the 25 foot cable with a cable certify and it tests good as a cross over cable reconnected the 10 foot cable works fine 25 foot cable won't connect. Is there a length problem with the 25 foot cross over cable?
TIA,
John 807

That is odd. A cross-over Ethernet cable connects just like any other Ethernet connection, except the Transmit and receive signaling are crossed. The maximum connection for Ethernet is 328 feet.

Many laptops auto crossover. I never use a cross-over cable on my laptop. Have you tried a regular Cat 5 cable? It will depend on your laptop, because the Toshiba processor NIC will not auto correct.

Do you have a link light on both sides? I have had a couple cables that gave me troubles in the past, like some long Cat 5 shielded cables.

If you temporarily hook up both the laptop and the NIC to a switch with the 25 pair you will see if it is giving you green lights for connection.

I used to use crossover cables but in recent times have found that standard Cat. 5e work just find, 25 feet is not an issue, would almost have to be a cable problem.