Why crossover cable

It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. I know that a crossover cable should be used to directly connect devices of the same type and patch cable is used to connect devices of different types.

But I never understood why is it so exactly? Why does such design has been chosen? Does the device used together with a patch cable always perform crossover? When you need crossover cables is often explained, but why is seldom explained.

It has to do with the copper often referred to as Ethernet wire itself. In copper wiring, there are four pairs of two wires eight total wires. The pairs are numbered The entire copper cable is full duplex, which means data can be sent and received at the same time. But individually, each pair of wires is dedicated to only send or only receive, and some pairs are not used at all. The specifics differ with each specific standard, but for the sake of the rest of this write up, we will be discussing BASE-TX.

One pair of wires are used for transmission, and the other pair is used for receiving. But if we have two computers connected directly to each other. And they both try to transmit on wire pair 2, their signals will collide.

Moreover, nothing will be sent on wire pair 3 and therefore neither computer will be able to receive anything. But the individual wires are crossed so that what is sent on Pair 2 arrives on the other PC on Pair 3. Switches are designed to be "in between" two PC's communicating. They are most likely what you will find when you go to your local computer store and buy a patch cable.

Read through this post to find the answer. A pinout is a specific arrangement of wires that dictate how the connector is terminated.

The first is the TA wiring standard and the second is TB. TB has surpassed A and is seen as the default wiring scheme for twisted pair structured cabling. If you are unsure of which to use, choose B.

A straight through cable is a type of twisted pair cable that is used in local area networks to connect a computer to a network hub such as a router. Black Box Network Services offers comprehensive communications and infrastructure solutions. Find out what we can do for you:. Black Box Network Services is the world's largest independent provider of communications, infrastructure, and product solutions.

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Cancel Sign in. Among these different types of network cable, many people may be unfamiliar with the patch cable and crossover cable. In fact, patch cable and crossover cable are two types of Ethernet cable, and they have the same physical characteristics. But what on earth is the difference between the patch cable and crossover cable?

With regard to these two patch cable wiring schemes, there are two different connectivity forms. The TB wiring scheme is by far the most common, though many devices support the TA wiring scheme as well. If both ends of the patch cords are wired on the basis of one standard, it is a straight through connection.

Both the standards can be used for straight through cable. If not, it is a crossover connection. Some networking applications require an Ethernet crossover cable, which has a TA connector on one end and a TB connector on the other.

This type of cable is typically used for direct computer-to-computer connections. The following section will introduce the straight through cable or patch cable and crossover cable in details.