CAT5 Cable Question

[ddeder]

Some questions about cabling terms:

Is "twisted pair" the same as "crossover"?

What is "booted"?

What is a "patch cable" used for?

If I want to network 2 computers together without a hub or switch, just stretch a cable between the NICs, what cable do I use?

Please excuse my ignorance...

Thanks.

 

[FirmPete]

Twisted=crossover

Booted=it's got a nice sleeve on the connector

a patch cable is a short cat5 cable used to connect for example wall outlets to switches. We have way more outlets then actual connections, so we use a patch cable to connect only the outlets we need

a crossover cable

never mind

you're welcome

 

[ddeder]

Thanks for the reply. That leads to a couple of more questions.

If I am wiring my house for a network, do I use "twisted pair" (crossover) cable or straight cable?

If I am to use crossover cable, what is a straight cable used for?

 

[ScottMac]

Twisted pair refers to the architecture of the wires internal to the jacketing. In Category-Rated cables (Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)), there are four pairs, each wire of the pair is twisted with the other wire int he pair. This helps to suppress noise to and from that pair (including noise from pair-to-pair...crosstalk).

A jumper is a single cable with a connector on each end (no intermediate panels or punchdowns). you can have a 90 Meter cable with a connector on each end pulled through the walls and across the ceiling, and it's still a "jumper." Jumpers are usually used for cross-connects, which implies some repeated flexing....so jumpers are usually made with stranded cable. Stranded cable has higher loss than solid conductor cable. The "90 Meter" spec refers ONLY to solid conductor cable. Real long stranded jumpers are bad JuJu....

Booted means it has a cute lil' rubber boot over the connector (it helps to prevent it from snagging while you un-knot it).

PC-to-PC (or switch-to-switch (normal ports)) use a crossover cable. That means the the transmit and receive pair are swapped (so that transmit goes to receive both ways).

Good Luck

FWIW

Scott

 

[Hisumi]

Depends whether you are using a hub and a switch, the wiring will be different.
For peer-to-peer (PC to PC) connection, you use a crossover cable. Straight-throughs are use to connect PC to hub or switch. Since you state that you are hooking up 2 computers without a hub or switch, just connect the 2 computers with a crossover.


--------------------------------
- Hisumi -

 

[JackMDS]

To sum it up:

All Cat5, and Cat5e, and Cat6 (to come) are constructed with Twisted pairs of wires. It comes this way from the factory.

Terminology:

NIC= Network Interface card (Network Card in the Computer).
Uplink= NIC type of connection on Hub/Switch.

Hub or Switch is connected the same way.

The Standard cable used today is Called CAT5.
The plugs that are used at the ends are called RJ-45.

Connector wise, Cat5 has two kinds of cables:

1. Straight Patch - That is the regular cable.
2. Crossover Patch - When you buy you have to ask specifically for it.

The plugs (RJ-45) at either ends can be connected as:

PC - Straight Cable- - HUB

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

Or

PC - CrossOver Cable - PC

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

These are the rules of connecting

NIC to NIC - crossover Cable. (Computer directly to second computer).
NIC to Hub - Straight Cable. (Computer to Hub/Switch).
NIC to Uplink - crossover Cable. (Computer to Uplink on a HUb/Switch).

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

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

==================================

Cable/DSL Modem output is not standard.

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.

 

[ktwebb]

"The plugs that are used at the ends are called RJ-55"

Probably a typo but the ends on Cat5, Cat5e etc.. are RJ-45.

 

[JackMDS]

Thanks ktwebb. Typo corrected.

 

[ktwebb]

Hey, thanks for the ack. You coulda just corrected it without saying anything, and people woulda been scratching there head wondering what the hell I was talking about since most people would have fallen asleep halfway through that novella you wrote before they got to the "edited: blah blah blah"

 

[ddeder]

Thanks for all the replies. Much appreciated...