straight vs cross-over

[aussiecanuck46]

Not correct Vicky. The duplex mode has nothing to do with cable pinouts. Duplex mode, and speed, are negotiated by the two NIC's after connection has been established through the cable. Bear in mind that anything connected through a hub must operate in half-duplex mode.

As was stated above the only time you need a crossover cable is when you're connecting two PC's together directly, or a PC directly to a router. Most of today's switches can automatically detect which pins to use for Transmit and Receive functions.

[jcarle]

I'd like to mention that a switch will allow full duplex operation. And that a lot of modern routers have integrated switches (at least the good ones do).

[ravashaak]

Some devices can configure their ports to deal with either straight-through or crossover cables (regardless of the type of device on the other end). IMHO, this is a bad feature, as it only leads to confusion. But nevertheless, they exist.

As far as full and half duplex modes go, cable type has nothing to do with it.

- Ravashaak

Edited August 2, 2005 by ravashaak