Different networking cables

[jacko]

What is the difference between cross over cable and the straight network cable?
How do i know when to use each cable??
Im a little confused due to being a newbie at networking

[Will.Spencer]

Originally Posted by jacko

What is the difference between cross over cable and the straight network cable?

In a straight network cable, each wire goes straight through.

In a crossover network cable, pins 2 and 3 are swapped.

Originally Posted by jacko

How do i know when to use each cable??

Straight through cables are used to connect terminal equipment (i.e. computers) to networking equipment (i.e. switches and routers).

Crossover cables are used to connect two pieces of terminal equipment.

These distinctions are becoming less important, as more and more network devices and network interface cards automatically adapt to whichever cable is used.

[Rob]

And you can tell if its crossover or not by looking at both ends of the cables.
If the colored wires are in the exact same order in both ends, its normal cable, if they are different it is cross over