Cat 5 wires, what do they do???

Ok, i know the common colors or what not is
WO/O/WG/B/WB/G/WB/B

but why?

i heard that if there is any other combination it doesnt work, even if it matches on the other side.. ( well i heard there is one more actually)... but why? something to do with the copper in the wires or somin? or the information i heard bs? thanks

There is a basic compination. But really if you don't care just make your own compination but make sure to make it the same on all your lines or it won't work.

I am so sick and tired of people saying to wire CAT5 any way you want.

You can wire CAT5 any way you want. If you like limited distance, crosstalk, and corrupt data.

If you plan on doing it, and doing it right, then you follow that sequence to stop the above anomolies. Using that sequence keeps the pairs twisted, this stops crosstalk and data corruption.

Wiring it any old way as long as the ends are the same is the half *** way of doing it.

Would cross talk have any effect in the one inch on each end that becomes untwisted where you connect it to an RJ-45 headpiece? If not, then why wouldn't you be able to place the wires any old way, assuming they matched on both the ends?

Slogan, AFAIK there are only 4 wires used in today's common application for ethernet cables. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 6th wires. SO you could make two seperate connections out of one wire. Provided you match the wires correctly at both ends.

Johnny, the twisted wires use a process called cancelation (sp) in order to prevent crosstalk/interference/signal attenuation. The inch or so at the end is standard and should not siginificantly impact things.

This said, provided you don't manually untwist all the cable, wiring in any old way you want should work fine, but it is extremely bad practice.

Suppose another administrator has to come behind you and troubleshoot a connectivity problem. They are used to the TIA/EIA 568A or TIA/EIA 568B standard and all of a sudden they see a cable with non-standard wiring. First thing they would/should do is replace the cable. Now, the admin just wasted time because someone was too lazy to make the cable properly in the first place.

I mean, if it is so much trouble to comply with a standard, go out and buy a premade cable.

hmm i never knew you could say *** on here before, i thought it got bleeped... don't say a senior never taught you anything.

anyways, i dont think anyone here is saying they are too "lazy" to do it the right way, i think the questions are from people wanting to understand WHY they do something.

If you take an upper level calculus course, you will find that very little is taught in class about doing the problems. The professor only focuses on the theory and why you do the problems the way you are supposed to. This is a very important understanding to have in calculus, and this line of thought applies in everything you do. You will be less likely to cut corners and you will get better results and be more successful when you understand the underlying facts and motivations behind what you do.

I understand that this may be an obstinate problem and the frustration involved, but still, KEEP IT IN PERSPECTIVE AS TO WHY THESE QUESTIONS ARE BEING ASKED! The earlier post by the senior was quite informative, but was it really necessary to cus - many people find that offensive. Also, in the last post, i dont think anyone here is asking this because they are too "lazy to do things the right way". The tone that creates in the post is nasty, and spurs recollections of another webforum in my mind. Anyone who has visited the HARDOCP forums knows what i mean. With attitudes like those you could blend right into their atmosphere. Around here, we usually try to inspire people to be more inquisitive.

BTW johnnythered... WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!

lol sorry to cause bickering... but thnx for the answers, i was just wondering cuz we made some cables yesterday no1 really knew why it had to be that order... thnx

I.M.O.G.: the wording "because someone was too lazy to make the cable properly in the first place" was not meant as a finger pointing to anyone in this thread.

And to elaborate my statements, I attempted to illustrate a real life scenario (which I have witnessed/been a part of) reagarding cabling and it's associated standards.

I believe, most people working with computers can all agree, that standards (such as cabling standards) are there to simplfy life and create some form of continuity from one network (in this case) to the next.

The wording, while it may have seemed inappropriate, accurately reflects the sentiment of any person I know who has been caught in this position and thus is appropriate to the anecdote.

Also note, only the first part of the response was targeted at johnny, the rest was for general audience. So, again ,sorry if anyone took it personally, but I still stand by my statements as I intended them; as an illustration of an event if not an outright explanation.

Yes, while most standards are created for that reason, the wiring schematic is created for a specific reason. And that is to get the maximum distance, lowest crosstalk, and lowest signal degredation (data corruption) possible.

When you run a 270 foot drop to a printer, wire it stupid, wonder why it prints nothing legible you will understand why this specific wiring schematic is the bible to people who run wire for a living.

And telling people that you can feasibly run two connction off one wire is worse information then telling them the wiring order doesn't matter.

The reasons that the wires are connected and twisted the way they are is;

#1 the noise cancelling properties require pairs of wires twisted together. A noise signal ( which is a magnetic field) will make noise on the wire just exactly like a generator. When the wire is twisted, the noise will generate 2 opposing currents, thereby cancelling itself out.

#2 The wires are not setup 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8, they are setup 1-2 3-6 4-5 7-8. By using the two pairs 1-2, and 3-6, you are getting 2 twisted pairs. Yes there is another set of pairs you can use, but the end plugs are not set up to do that.

I hope this clears up some stuff.

steve

The other reason that they're wired with the green pair split is that Ethernet only uses leads 1, 2, 3, and 6. So it's like this:
So leads 1-3 and 6 are the orange and green pairs. If you wanted to rewire a house with network, you could also run the phone over your cat5, using, say, the blue pairs for your tip and ring.

But there are also the noise cancelation reasons mentioned earlier.

If you're not worried about it, you can wire it however you want, as long as it matches the other side, but you can run into problems that way.