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Can a crossover cable be used as a normal cable too, when using with a router, switch,hub etc.
What situations may it not work in and are there other issues to be aware of when using crossover versus normal network cables?
aibk01
Posted 2012-02-21T16:46:16.097
Reputation: 1 044
4
Wikipedia says
Owing to the inclusion of Auto-MDIX capability, modern implementations of the Ethernet over twisted pair standards usually no longer require the use of crossover cables.
Which implies that a crossover Ethernet cable can be used in place of a straight-through Ethernet cable with recent equipment.
Older Ethernet hubs and switches sometimes had a special "uplink" port or a "normal/uplink" button for this purpose,
I don't see these on recent equipment. I believe this is because they nowadays have Auto-MDIX and don't need special ports or buttons for crossover connections.
RedGrittyBrick
Posted 2012-02-21T16:46:16.097
Reputation: 70 632
3AFAIK the Auto-MDIX feature is mandatory for all Gigabit Ethernet ports, therefore if you have such a port at least on one side you have it for sure. – Robert – 2012-02-21T18:17:41.140
1It may be worth mentioning that often you'll still see the equivalent of uplink ports where the switch has uplink ability at a different speed than its normal ports. 100M ports and 1G uplink, 1G ports and fibre uplink, etc. – Sirex – 2012-10-18T19:16:47.530
2The usual term is Ethernet crossover cable – RedGrittyBrick – 2012-02-21T17:45:44.520