Networking Category 5 Wire |
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The University of Findlay's College of Education |
Cat 5 Category 5 wire is four-pair 100 ohm UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable. The horizontal cabling (from the wall jack to the wire closet) may be up to 90 meters in length. |
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Wall Jack Each wire is terminated into a wall jack, both in the classroom and in the wire closet. The manufacturer color-codes each connector so that installers can easily "punch-down" each colored wire in the appropriate location. |
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RJ45 Each patch cord has an RJ45 connector on each end. The wire diagram for the RJ45 connector is below. |
RJ-45 Connectors - Patch Cords for Category 5 Wire
Standard Patch Cord (both ends same) | Cross-over Cable (only one end is crossed) |
Straight-Through vs Cross-Over In general, the patch cords that you use with your Ethernet connections are "straight-through", which means that pin 1 of the plug on one end is connected to pin 1 of the plug on the other end. Voice cables are "crossed" end to end; data cables aren't.