What is the difference in using straight through cable and crossover cable in connecting a switch?
What is the difference in using straight through cable and crossover cable in connecting a switch?
I have read some books that to connect a two switch together you have to use crossover cable, but I notice in our company I am currently working they use straight cable to connect switches together.
What would be the difference between the two? Is there any disadvantages or advantages?
Jack
I have read some books that to connect a two switch together you have to use crossover cable, but I notice in our company I am currently working they use straight cable to connect switches together.
What would be the difference between the two? Is there any disadvantages or advantages?
Jack
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Thanks Jack.
Cheers !
--Rob
Cheers !
--Rob
there are essentially two types of ethernet ports, crossed and uncrossed. User equipment typically has uncrossed ports (Network cards for instance) Switches typically have crossed ports. Other devices my have either, but typically if it is intended to be an "end" device, it will have an un-crossed port. Access points for instance typically have an uncrossed port.
The difference is simple...two pins are "transmit" pins and two pins are "recieve" pins. for two devices to communicate, device #1 must have its transmit pins connected to device #2's receive pins. and vice versa.
If you are connecting 2 PCs together, without a switch, you must use a crossed cable to get the pins to cross correctly. Likewise when linking two switches together.
Connecting two switches together is so common, that most switches have a way to uncross a port so you don't need a crossed cable to tie them to another switch. This can be in the form of an MDI MDX switch, a dedicated uncrossed port a dual-purpose port pair or an auto-uplink port. be warned, switches that have a dual-purpose port pair normally utilize 2 physical ports into one ethernet port, so the two ports are mutually exclusive.
In general, cross cables are mostly obsolete if you use modern hardware, but there are a few instances when they are needed. so keep a few around just in case....and mark them clearly as crossed cables...because they can really cause issues if they get mixed in with uncrossed cables.
Rule of thumb...there must be an odd number of crosses between ports for communications to happen. end devices are typically uncrossed ports, switches are typically crossed ports. this is easy to remember because many switch manufacturers number their ports as 1X 2X 3X etc. to denote they are crossed ports.
The difference is simple...two pins are "transmit" pins and two pins are "recieve" pins. for two devices to communicate, device #1 must have its transmit pins connected to device #2's receive pins. and vice versa.
If you are connecting 2 PCs together, without a switch, you must use a crossed cable to get the pins to cross correctly. Likewise when linking two switches together.
Connecting two switches together is so common, that most switches have a way to uncross a port so you don't need a crossed cable to tie them to another switch. This can be in the form of an MDI MDX switch, a dedicated uncrossed port a dual-purpose port pair or an auto-uplink port. be warned, switches that have a dual-purpose port pair normally utilize 2 physical ports into one ethernet port, so the two ports are mutually exclusive.
In general, cross cables are mostly obsolete if you use modern hardware, but there are a few instances when they are needed. so keep a few around just in case....and mark them clearly as crossed cables...because they can really cause issues if they get mixed in with uncrossed cables.
Rule of thumb...there must be an odd number of crosses between ports for communications to happen. end devices are typically uncrossed ports, switches are typically crossed ports. this is easy to remember because many switch manufacturers number their ports as 1X 2X 3X etc. to denote they are crossed ports.
The disadvantage would be in knowing which of your cables ar straight through or cross over.