Twisted-Pair Cabling;

Crossover Cables

Wiring standards for Ethernet cables using

twisted-pair wires;
Making and testing cables
UTP and STP

 UTP –
Unshielded Twisted Pair;
four pairs are bundled in a
plastic “jacket” as a cable
 Inexpensive; most
commonly used

 STP –
Shielded Twisted Pair;
each pair is wrapped in a
conductive shield for
additional electrical
isolation, then bundled in
the jacket
 Pricier, used where
required
Twisted-Pairs and RJ-45 Connectors

 Ethernet uses RJ-45

connectors for UTP and STP

 Standard EIA/TIA 568

specifies the wiring patterns
for 10Base-T, 100Base-T
 EIA, TIA organizations collaborated on
the standard
 T-568A and T-568B differ slightly in
which pairs go where
 A cable with the same pattern on each
end (both T-568A or T-568B) is a
straight-through cable
 T-568B is more common
Which standard is
used in this connector?

✦Hint:
the clip is on the back side
in this photo.
✦Answer:
T-568B
RJ-45 Connectors and Signals
This table shows transmit (TX)
and receive (RX) pins for
a DTE (computer) device – 10Base-T, 1000Base-T,
Pin 100Base-T 10GBase-T
✦ 10Base-T and 100Base-T “Fast 1 Tx data + Tx A +
Ethernet” only use two pairs 2 Tx data - Tx A -
‣ DTE (active) nodes transmit on 3 Rx data + Rx B +
pins 1&2, receive on 3&6
4 unused Tx C +
‣ DCE (hubs, switches) receive on
pins 1&2, transmit on 3&6 5 unused Tx C -
6 Rx data - Rx B -
✦ 1000Base-T “GigE” 7 unused Rx D +
(and older 100Base-T4) require 8 unused Rx D -
all four pairs
‣ GigE actually transmits and
receives on each pair
Straight-Through and Crossover Cables

 Straight-through cables connect a DTE

(e.g., computer) to a DCE (e.g., switch)
 The same wiring pattern on each end

 Crossover cables are used to connect one DTE

directly to another
 Transmit-pins 1&2 must be connected to Receive-pins
3&6, and vice-versa
 For Gigabit crossover, Transmit-pins 4&5 must also be
connected to Receive-pins 7&8, and vice-versa
What are Rolled Cables?

“In the Cisco world, a rolled (or rollover) cable is

a cable used to manage a router or switch from
the console port of that device. This cable is
usually used when configuring one of these
devices for the first time. A rolled cable
connects the PC’s serial port (using a DB9 to
RJ45 adaptor) to the router or switch’s console
port. A rolled cable looks just like an Ethernet
cable. The funny thing is that a rolled cable isn’t
an Ethernet cable at all. In fact, it is a serial
cable. In a rolled cable, Pin 1 connects to Pin 8
on the other side.”
What kind of cable is this?

✦ Hint: check the wiring pattern carefully!

✦ Answer:
✦ Non-standard cable
‣ Left side is T-568B
‣ Right side is neither
standard
‣ Not a "rollover" cable
either
Using Twisted-Pair Cables

✦ Original, non-smart situation:

‣ DTE nodes connect to DCE hub/switch via straight-through cables
• hub/switch performs cross-over effect internally
‣ DTE nodes must use crossover cables to connect directly to each
other

✦ Likely situation today:

‣ switch is smart enough to do “auto-sensing”
‣ some NICs can auto-sense
• Straight-through / crossover cables less important
‣ Crossover cables are used with backbone switches

✦ Oh, yeah…
‣ Gig-E crossover cable will work for 100Mbps Ethernet
‣ 100Mbps-only crossover cable will not work for Gig-E
Making a “Patch” Cable

 For a straight-through cable, use the same standard on both ends - either T-
568A or T-568B

 For a Gigabit Ethernet

crossover cable, exchange
all four pairs
 Either T-568A or T-568B
can be used
 Pin pairs 1&2, and 3&6,
are crossed with each other
 Pin pairs 4&5, and 7&8,
are crossed with each other

 For a 10Mbps or 100Mbps crossover cable, you can use T-568A wiring on one end and T-
568B on the other
 Pin pairs 1&2, and 3&6, are crossed with each other
 Pairs 4&5 and 7&8 don’t matter
1000BaseT Crossover-Cable
– Two Possible Connection Patterns

T568A

Use the pattern above,

or the pattern below - not both!

T568B
Gigabit Ethernet crossover wiring – T568A - from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_crossover_cable
Gigabit Ethernet crossover wiring – T568B - from
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_crossover_cable
Making a Cable

 UTP cable, showing about 1 inch of sheathing

stripped off
 Do NOT strip the individual wires, just untwist them
Inspect the connector
before crimping it

 Muchtoo much of the

sheath has been
removed here.
 It might work, but it
would be susceptible
to electrical noise.

 At
least the wires look
okay from the top…
…Look closely…

 Onone side, the wires

reach all the way to the
end.
 Buton the other, they
don't get as far as the
electrical contacts.
 Thiscable has not been
crimped yet. It can still be
corrected.
 The wires should also be
shortened, so that the
sheath reaches into the
back of the connector.
Crimping Tool
Crimping a Connector
Which Connector Has Been Crimped?

Uncrimped Crimped
Testing Crossover Cables

Test a crossover cable by connecting two computers with it.

1. If the NICs have LEDs, and they don't light up, the cable isn't
electrically sound
2. Set an IP address on each machine
 Linux:
sudo ifconfig eth0 10.0.0.x
 MS-Windows:
netsh interface ip set address name="Local Area
Connection" static 10.0.0.y 255.0.0.0 10.0.0.1 1
 Choose a different x and y for the two machines – one of them should be
10.0.0.1
 Replace "eth0" and "Local Area Connection" with correct NIC
names (shown by ifconfig or ipconfig)
3. Send a command between them
 Ping each one from the other
 Establish a "netcat" session (if netcat or nc.exe is installed)
Netcat – "the Swiss Army knife of networking"

 Netcat program can run as either server or client

 Netcat clients and servers can "talk" to each other

 Server mode:
netcat "listens" on your choice of port number
 Example:
• Linux: nc -l 8080
• Windows: nc -l -p 8080
 Port 8080 is a common choice for mimicking a web server

 Clientmode:
netcat connects to IP-and-port-number combo
 Example: nc 10.0.0.1 8080

 Server and client can both run on the same machine

 Use 127.0.0.1 or "localhost" as the IP address