Utp Implementation: Straight-Through Cable
Utp Implementation: Straight-Through Cable
Utp Implementation: Straight-Through Cable
If you look at the RJ-45 transparent end connector, you can see eight colored wires. These wires are
twisted into four pairs. Four of the wires (two pairs) carry the positive, or true, voltage and are considered “tip”
(T1 through T4); the other four wires carry the inverse, or false, voltage grounded and are called “ring” (R1
through R4). Tip and ring are terms that originated in the early days of the telephone. Today, these terms refer
to the positive and the negative wire in a pair. The wires in the first pair in a cable or a connector are designated
as T1 and R1, the second pair is T2 and R2, and so on.
The RJ-45 plug is the male component, crimped at the end of the
cable. As you look at the male connector from the front, with the clip facing down,
the pin locations are numbered from 8 on the left down to 1 on the right, as shown in Figure 4-23.
The jack, shown in Figure 4-24, is the female component in a network device, wall or cubicle partition
outlet, or patch panel. As you look at the device port, the corresponding female pin
locations are 1 on the left up to 8 on the right.
For electricity to run between the connector and the jack, the
order of the wires must follow EIA/TIA-568-A and EIA/TIA-568-B
standards, as shown previously in Figure 4-16.
■ A straight-through cable—A cable that maintains the pin connection all the way
through the cable. Thus, the wire connected to pin 1 is the same on both ends of the
cable.
■ A crossover cable—A cable that crosses the critical pair to properly align, transmit, and receive signals on the
device with line connections.
1 | U T P I m p l e m e n t a ti o n
With crossover cable, the RJ-45 connectors on both
ends show that some of the wires on one side of the cable are crossed to a
different pin on the other side of the cable. Specifically for
Ethernet, pin 1 at one RJ-45 end should connect to pin 3 at the other end.
Pin 2 at one end should connect to pin 6 at the other end, as
shown in Figure 4-27.
2 | U T P I m p l e m e n t a ti o n