Life of a CAT 5 wire

Better to change the version to cat6 because now recent switches are performing very well under cat6 cabling towards speed .Dont lay your cable open to sun source. internet proveiders have to change the cable for every 11 months because the wire will become brittle under sun rays .No need of changing the cable which lies inside of the office until 8 to 10 years. Always use universal crimping model .If you are using patchcards no problem. always preffer patch cards with io boxes. rather than crimping jacks. Universal crimping model orenge white + orenge +green white +blue+bluewhite +green +greywhite+gray

Its always better to change the CAT 5 wire in every 4-5 years . Cat5 tend to break gradually when they are put out in open due to heat and rain. This is not a hard and fast rule tho.

Hi, I am still running our network off a CAT 5e, 2 years is not that long, but why aren't you CAT 5e? Do you know what your setup is? 100T requires 4 pair , and 10 base requires 2. What are your switches? When did the slow down happen? I do not think it is the cable if you have not changed a switch, do you have this info so we can better assist?