Wiring Standards
Ethernet cabling is an important thing to understand, especially if you’re planning to work on any type of LAN. There are different types of wiring standards available:
- T568A
- T568B
- Straight-through
- Crossover
- Rolled/rollover
We will look into each one of these, and then I’ll end this discussion with some examples for you.
T568A vs. T568B
If you look inside a network cable, you’ll find four pairs of wires twisted together to prevent crosstalk; they’re also twisted like this to help prevent EMI and tapping. The same pins have to be used on the same colors throughout a network to receive and transmit, but how do you decide which color wire goes with which pin? The good news is that you don’t have to decide—at least not completely.
Two wiring standards have surfaced that have been agreed on by over 60 vendors, including AT&T, 3Com, and Cisco, although there isn’t 100 percent agreement. In other words, over the years,...
