[Gllug] [OT] Patch versus Crossover

Ian Northeast ian at house-from-hell.demon.co.uk
Thu Aug 7 21:01:46 UTC 2003


Adrian McMenamin wrote:
> 
> Sysadmin at work has given me an unopened cable he says he doens't need/want
> because it is a cross over that was supplied in error. Thing is it is stamped
> all over with 'patch' but he says they were all like that!
> 
> Thing is, looking at the cable, the red connectors are on the left of the
> connector at one end of the cable and the right on the other side which
> suggests to me it is indeed a patch.

If you place the RJ45 plugs side by side, same way up and and look at
the colours of the wires, if it is a straight patch cable they will be
in the exact same order.

If numbers 2, 6 and 3, 4 (IIRC) are reversed it is a crossover.

I have seen plenty of crossover cables not marked in any way. I even
once bought one from a high street outlet (I was in a hurry) as a
crossover, and it was and worked, which had no marking on the cable
itself to indicate such.

I always wrap a label around a crossover cable and write "XOVER" on it
with a broad felt pen. A network admin I used to know used to make them
up, use them for the task in hand, then cut them in half and bin them to
avoid the chance of anyone using them for patch cables and calling him
out for a "network fault".

Regards, Ian

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