Cat 5 or Cat 5e

[anand1431]

Hi,
This might a lame question but i am confused on the whole.
I have a router and i wanted to put up a 50ft cable. So what do buy straight thro or crossover and i saw a deal at price.com is it good could someone pl help me in this.
Cable

If someone could also give me the difference between crossover and straight cable. I assume i need to use straight cable bcos i am using it from a router to the computer...So help me out!! by the way what do they mean by patch cable??

Thanks

 

[ScottMac]

If you're planning on 100 megabit, cat 5 is fine. What kind of router? If it's a consumer grade router, then it's likely to be a "straight through / non-crossover" setup. If it's a standard router, it's probably a crossover, since they are usually rigged to connect to a hub/switch. Check your documentation (if you have it), or check the router manufacturer's website.

Good Luck

Scott

 

[Garion]

Hubs and switches are designed to have computers, etc. plugged into them. They send their data across the "send" pair of copper and receive it across the "receive" pair. This can cause problems when you need to plug connect hubs and switches together - both ends try to send across the SAME send pair and listen on the receive pair. Needless to say, this doesn't work well.

A crossover cable has the "send" pair crossed with the "receive" pair (This is all a bit simplistic, but it's the easiest way to think of it). Some hubs have a "crossover" (usually labelled "Uplink" or "X-Over" port that has this cross built into it so you can use a straight through cable to connect to the two hubs/switches.

The same thing goes when you connect two computers straight together without a hub - They both try to send on the "send" pair and nobody gets through. A crossover cable makes this work properly.

In general, the only time you need a crossover cable is when you are connecting two hubs together or two PC's without a hub. However, some manufacturers (like my RCA cable modem) are trying to get a bit too fancy and build their Ethernet port crossed. It can make things a bit odd trying to connect it up to the rest of the network.

Before you go out and buy any cable, take one you've got (one probably came with your router) and plug it into your PC. If it works, get the same kind of cable. IF it doesn't, get the other flavor.

You should probably buy locally - If you mess up and get the wrong one it will be much easier to take it back. Cables are pretty cheap, so you won't end up saving much money mail order (especially with shipping charges!)

- G

 

[JackMDS]

Straight Cable RJ-45 Pins Connections.

Pin 1 TX+ -------------- Pin 1 RX+
Pin 2 TX- --------------- Pin 2 RX-
Pin 3 RX+ ------------- Pin 3 TX+
Pin 6 RX- -------------- Pin 6 TX-

CrossOver Cable RJ45 Pins Connections.

Pin 1 TX+ -------------- Pin 3 RX+
Pin 2 TX- --------------- Pin 6 RX-
Pin 3 RX+ -------------- Pin 1 TX+
Pin 6 RX- --------------- Pin 2 TX-

Use:

NIC to NIC - Crossover Cable.
NIC to Hub - Straight (regular) Cable
NIC to Uplink - Crossover Cable.

Hub (regular) to Hub (regular) - Crossover Cable.
Hub (regular) to Hub Uplink - Straight (regular) Cable.

Cable/DSL entry on a Cable/DSL Router (WAN) is an Uplink.

If your Modem came with Straight Cable:
Modem to NIC - Straight (regular) Cable
Modem to Hub - Crossover Cable.
Modem to Uplink - Straight (regular)Cable

If your Modem Came with Crossover Cable:
Modem to NIC - Crossover Cable.
Modem to Hub - Straight (regular) Cable
Modem to Uplink - Crossover Cable.

If you want to know more look here:

Want to Connect, or Make Network Cables (CAT5)