Date First Published: 2nd May 2022
Topic: Computer Networking
Subtopic: Data Transmission Technologies
Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions
Difficulty: MediumDifficulty Level: 7/10
Learn more about what a crossover cable is in this article.
A crossover cable is a type of Ethernet cable that directly connects two computers together without the use of a central router, network switch, or hub and enables host-to-host networking. The output from one computer can become the input to another and it can work the other way round.
In addition, crossover cables are more expensive and they reverse the transmit and receive signals. Their only purpose is for direct network connections, since connecting a computer to a router or a network switch with a crossover cable rather than a normal Ethernet cable will cause the connection to malfunction.
Rollover cables, null modem cables, and loopbacks are examples of crossover cables.
Crossover cables look similar to normal Ethernet cables, but they consist of different internal wiring. Instead of a similar sequence of coloured wires on each end, the first and third wires as well as the second and sixth wires are swapped. For example, if one end of the Ethernet cable had wires that were blue, green, yellow, indigo, black, violet, orange, red and the other end had wires that were yellow, violet, blue, indigo, black, green, orange, and red in that order, it would be a crossover cable. If the sequence of colours on one end of the cable is exactly the same as the sequence at the other end, it is a normal Ethernet cable and not a crossover cable.
The packaging of a crossover must indicate that it is a crossover cable and most Ethernet crossover cables have markings that differentiate them from normal Ethernet cables, such as the word 'crossover' stamped on the coating.
In the past, crossovers cables were used to connect old hubs and network switches to each other through the use of their MDI-X ports that required a crossover cable. MDI-X, a feature of Ethernet provided auto-detection support that prevented signal conflicts, which occur when the same wires for both transmit and receive are used. MDI-X allows Ethernet to automatically determine which signalling method the device on the other end of the cable is using and arranges the transmit and appropriately receive wires.
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