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macgrl

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 17, 2008
1,192
5
To connect a pc to a router I need a cross over cable. What do I need to connect a router to a switch - cross over or straight through? I will be using cat5e cable

Many thanks
 

TEG

macrumors 604
Jan 21, 2002
6,625
173
Langley, Washington
Unless you are connecting a Computer to the Internet port or WAN on a Router you use a Straight-Through Cable. If you are connecting to a Hub, either a Straight-Through Cable to the port that supports Uplink, or a cross-over cable to any port.

TEG
 

macgrl

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 17, 2008
1,192
5
I am wanting to use a switch as my router doesn't have enough ethernet ports for my network so I need to have more ports so a cross over cable from router to switch should be ok? right?:)
 

HenryAZ

macrumors 6502a
Jan 9, 2010
690
143
South Congress AZ
I am wanting to use a switch as my router doesn't have enough ethernet ports for my network so I need to have more ports so a cross over cable from router to switch should be ok? right?:)

Yes a crossover cable will work for you. It may very well not be necessary, as the ports on many modern switches autosense and adapt to the correct transmit/receive orientation. If they do autosense, you will still be OK.
 

Les Kern

macrumors 68040
Apr 26, 2002
3,063
76
Alabama
Yes a crossover cable will work for you. It may very well not be necessary, as the ports on many modern switches autosense and adapt to the correct transmit/receive orientation. If they do autosense, you will still be OK.

Haven't seen or used a crossover in almost a decade, and the odds you have a device that requires one is on the order of a billion to one.
 

RedTomato

macrumors 601
Mar 4, 2005
4,161
444
.. London ..
Hubs are rare now too. Pretty much anything mainstream you buy with multiple ethernet ports is a switch now.

Hubs = dumb, low capacity. Switch = more intelligent ethernet transmittion. Used to be a big difference in price, but switches are very cheap. If you're getting something *really* cheap, check it's a switch, not a hub.

Ditto, pretty much anything mainstream that deals with ethernet has auto-sensing ports on it, meaning you don't need to worry about cross-over vs straight-through. Again, auto-sense should be on the list of features.
 
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