Network Cable Woes

Veljo

Veljo

Mac Enthusiast
I have a really short network cable (no longer than 5 feet) that connects my PC and Mac directly. I bought a 60 foot network cable the other day so I can move my Mac away from my PC and into another location. Problem is, when I connect the two computers with this cable the PC says 'Network cable is unplugged.' I thought to myself that maybe the cable was faulty, but why would it be? A while ago I tried another cable from a friend and it didn't work either. On this short one that a friend gave will. Anyone know what's going on?
 
Make sure they're CAT5 cable. Also try putting a router or network hub between the computers.
 
If it's a straight-through, or "regular" cable, it won't work. Wire 2 (Transmit) on one side connects to wire 2 (Transmit) on the other side (i.e. both are transmitting on the same wire), and the receive wire is just sitting idle.

You need a crossover cable, where wire 2 (transmit) on each side connects to wire 3 (receive) on the other side.

You'll also probably need to set up IP addresses manually on each computer.
 
One thing you can do, to easily make the other cable a crossover cable, is get one of those RJ-45 to RJ-45 adaptors (they let you connect two RJ-45 terminated cat5 cables together). Then just plug the crossover cable into that, and the long cable into the other end.

Long crossover cables are hard to find, so I either do the above, or make my own.
 
you dont always need a cross over cable. My powerbook has auto switching you you can use a normal cable for a direct connection. How ever this could be the problem, make sure it is a cross over cable. You can check if it is a straight cable by comparing the colours in the jack, if the are the same order on both plugs its straight - if not probably a good guess that it is a cross over!
 
I took the network cable back to where I got it and asked them to test it and they ensured me that it worked. They told me to buy this little box that the short network cable plugs into one side and the new one plugs into the other side. This worked. He said something about certain network cables are inverted or something.
 
yup, that box crossovers your cable.

A crossover cable just switches the RX and TX lines (which are blanced, two wires each).

That box does exactly this - it inverts the polarity.
 
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