Crossover vs. Patch: A Legacy Networking Guide
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Visualizing: Crossover vs. Patch: A Legacy Networking Guide
In the early days, if you wanted to connect two PCs directly, you needed a Crossover Cable to swap the Send and Receive wires.
Auto-MDIX
Modern routers and network cards support Auto-MDIX. They automatically detect the connection and swap the signals in software.
Today, you can use a standard Patch Cable for almost everything. Crossover cables are now mostly museum pieces for retro-computing enthusiasts.
Technical References
- IEEE 802.3ab: 1000BASE-T Physical Layer.
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