Explain cables to me...

[nips]

What's the difference between a cat5e cross-over cable and a cat5e networking cable. They're both RJ45 (which I've assumed referes to the shape of the ends) and are both patch cables (whatever that refers to).

I've connected two PCs up before using a cross-over cable, but this guy came into the shop asking for a networking cable for connecting/networking two pcs and insisted that he needed the cat5e network cable, not the cross-over one.

I'm not quite sure the difference... they all seem the same to me.

[SubparMario]

AFAIK Crossovers are usually for connecting one PC directly to another and normal ones go from a pc to a networking device like a hub or router. The difference being that the plugs are wired in a different order for each type.

[Super Stu]

Aye, a networking cable / patch is wired straight through. If you want machines linked together, you need the electronics to do it (hub/switch etc). Cross over has the send/receive wires crossed over from one plug to the other, thus eliminating the need for the electronics, but obviously only useful for directly wiring 2 devices together (PCs, sometimes hubs, etc).

[nips]

Thanks, I thought it was along those lines.

Is it ok to plug a cross-over cable into a router? I connected my XB to the PC using a cross-over cable, but now I'm using XBLive and it's going into a router instead of my PC. Is that ok? Well, it's working, so it must be, but it'm not limiting myself at all, am I?

[SubparMario]

I would of said that cross-over to router wouldn't of worked. Maybe the router has sensed a crossover cable and reversed the order of connections internally to make it act like a staight cable, I gather some routers/hubs do that. As long as it's working you're fine, theres nothing that can vary or degrade really.

[Paleface]

To explain: one little wire does send, one does receive. In a normal cable, they are both connected the same way end to end ie:

S --- S

R --- R

Think of it as an extension - you're taking one send to another send.

In a cross over, this happens:


S - - R
X
R - - S

the cables twist. You can actually usually see the twist in the RJ45 connector. Send is wired to receive and vice versa. Useful for say, plugging one machine directly into another, but useless for plugging into a hub or switch (where all that switching is done for you).

If it's working, it could well be an auto-sensing router. They're quite common now, and fairly useful (mainly because they auto-sense when a normal cable needs to crossed over - not the other way around like you've got).

[nips]

Thanks everyone