[Weaver]

If I remember correctly, some hubs also used to require crossover cables to function properly, however nowdays I see little need for crossover cables when switches and hubs which function without out cross over cables are so prevelent.


But, in a pinch, a cross over cable has saved me.....

If a repeater/switch has auto MDI/MDI-X logic onboard then there is not need to check whether or not a crossover or a patch cable is needed. Circuitry onboard can logically swap the transmit and receive pins of a particular port on the repeater/switch.

Auto MDI/MDI-X used to be something special, but now even entry level switches are coming with it equipped.

-Weaver

[john52712]

Thanks Jeff.

Here is an excerpt from part 2.

Earlier, we discussed Ethernet without actually knowing what components (devices) other than network cards (NIC's) are needed to setup an Ethernet network. The most basic setup is two computers each plugged in directly to one another via a special Ethernet cable called a crossover cable. The role of a crossover cable is to reverse the transmit and receive pins on one of the end of the cable. This is done so that the receive pins of one node line up with the transmit pins of another node. Think about what would happen if transmit was hooked up to transmit, and receive pins were hooked up to receive pins... Nothing would get done. That is all a crossover cable is, no matter what your friends tell you... and I have heard some interesting explanations let me tell you.

Let's say we want to hook more than 2 computers up to our Ethernet network. We have to purchase what is called a hub, or more specifically a repeater hub. Hubs come in different flavors, repeater hubs and switching hubs. Switching hubs or switches have taken over the market, more on switches later. A standard repeater hub enables you to hook up more than 2 machines into the Ethernet network via standard Ethernet cable. Standard Ethernet cable is sometimes called straight-through, or just patch cable. It is the opposite of a crossover cable in the sense that the wiring on each end of the cable is identical, instead of

john52712

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