Unit 2

Lesson 5 - UTP Patch Cables and Connectors

   Introduction

In most offices, UTP cabling is installed within walls, under floors (in channels called wiring troughs), and above suspended ceilings. This cabling becomes part of the invisible infrastructure of a building, and a network administrator rarely needs to deal with it.

Thus, most of the physical configuration of a UTP network is done with individual patch cables. These cables are used to connect computers to a building's permanent network wiring, or to devices such as hubs or switches. This lesson introduces two different types of UTP cables, and explains when to use each one.

   Objectives

At the end of this lesson you should be able to:

1.

Diagram the 568A and 568B patterns for UTP connectors

2.

Name the wire pairs in a UTP cable, in the order specified by TIA/EIA

3.

Explain the difference between a patch cable and a crossover cable

4.

Identify the wire pairs used in an Ethernet LAN

Key Point
Patch cables connect computers to hubs or switches. Crossover cables connect computers directly to each other.


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