T568A-B Ethernet Cable general question

[Wandering_Youth]

My house is wired with Cat-5e t568A ethernet cables to each room, however most of the ethernet cables I use on my router, modem, computers and switches are the T568B kind and so are the cables that are used to plugged into the outlets on center main network panel in the master bedroom. Everything works, but I was wondering if this will have some how affect my internet speed, stable, latency etc.

[TheFluff]

Originally Posted by Wandering_Youth

I was wondering if this will have some how affect my internet speed, stable, latency etc.

it will not

[synaesthetic]

twisted pair is twisted pair is twisted pair.

Twisted pair is two solid-core copper wires twisted around each other. There are four sets of these in each standard ethernet cable.

Don't ever spend loads of cash on an ethernet cable with fancy names (just like you should never buy expensive Monster Cable crap either).

[Dhomochevsky]

If you have 1GBit, or 10GBit network interfaces, they will sometimes reject old/very long cables (not even cat5e I guess), or badly installed wallplugs and switch to a lower speed.

But this will certainly not affect you internet speed, which should be magnitudes lower anyway. Unless you have a a direct fibre connection and your ISP is awesome, in which case I'm jaelous.

[TheFluff]

T568A vs T568B isn't even a matter of cabling differences. Literally the only thing that differs between the two is the pair order on the connector, and since every consumer networking device bought in the last ten years has auto-MDIX it affects absolutely nothing whatsoever.

[sneaker]

Does designating cables as "T568A" or "T568B" even make any sense? As long as both ends use the same wiring they should be functionally identical, even without Auto-MDIX.

[Dhomochevsky]

It matters for cross-over cables, if your hardware can not detect it.

I only saw those in use with old cisco routers we used as training machines in school.
There, you had to use one kind of cable to connect PC/clients with switches and another type to connect switches with each other.

I am not even sure which type the 'common' ethernet cable is nowadays.

[TheFluff]

I remember having to keep track which ethernet cables were "straight" and which were "cross-over" at LAN parties in the 90's and early 2000's, but that was the last time it made any difference.

I believe "straight" is the only commonly sold version these days.

[Wandering_Youth]

Cisco states that T568B is mainly used in commercial buildings while T568A is used mainly in residential buildings, but as to why they do this they did not explain or I haven't find an answer yet.

Hmm, maybe I'll just re crimp my ethernet cables so that they're T568A for the sake organization...

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by TheFluff

I believe "straight" is the only commonly sold version these days.

Most stores that stock computer parts sell crossover Ethernet cables. They usually are not very long, though, like 2-5m.

Now that hub and switch manufacturers have moved the uplink/downlink logic into the devices themselves, crossover cables are fairly obsolete. If you have two computers you want to connect together for an ad-hoc network, or in certain older patch panel arrangments, they're still a valuable commodity.