I'm trying to transmit Ethernet through relays. I'm using relays because I need them to switch to another signal path, and I'm specifically going to use relays and not other switching devices so that things are fail-safe and still provide a path when my device controlling the relays is off. So, I wonder if anybody out here knows can I safely transmit 100 Mb/s Ethernet through relays? I'm a bit worried because the spec says that Ethernet must be transferred through 100 Ohm impedance (unshielded twisted pair).
- Will the signal be ok?
- Are there timing issues or any other issues with doing this?
Best Answer
Ethernet is surprisingly robust and you can use surprisingly bad cables before it starts to fail. So to send data through would probably work quite ok.
But when you switch the relays you would end up with a disconnect and a reconnect and those could cause the connected devices to behave strange since you on a logical level "moved the cable" from one device into another in a ms or so. And I am not sure how they would react to that...
But I get the feeling that there is another solution to your problem that will work better, even if this probably will work.