Are ethernet cables the same world-wide?
 

In other words, can I use my US ethernet cable with a modem in Europe? Or, like phone cables and power plugs, is some sort of adapter required?

Yep, RJ45.

Excellent. Thank you so much, UAVirgin.

Modern Ethernet connectors, similar to phone cords but with 8 wires, are a worldwide standard called RJ45. But you won't have much luck using one with a modem, unless you mean a cable or DSL modem.
:-)

Yes, currently most everyone on the simple level uses rj45 connectors on an 8 wire system. but early eithernet cables were very different, and came in many flavors.

Just make sure it's a regular Ethernet cable. If it's the one you use to hook up your computer to a cable modem at home, as the first post implies, it'll be fine. If you take a different cable, make sure it's not a "crossover cable." Those are for connecting two computers to each other. They won't work for this. (Not all current computers need them for that, either, but they're still around.)

To see if it's a cross over or not, hold the two sets of pins side by side, the four or eight cables should be in the same order by color from left to right.

Ahh yes... the AUI connector with the little friggin' slide thing. Oh, and the vampire tap for the other end.

We still have some thinnet at the office.

I have an ethernet cable left from connecting to our old (circa 2002) modem. I was thinking of taking it to France to connect my laptop with a DSL modem there.

Unless it's from the stone age, yes, they are universal. There were other cable types in the old days but I haven't seen any in eons.

Until the management changed I had no problem plugging my laptop into the network at the internet cafe in Shanghai.

In addition to the other responses, note that there are different categories of modern ethernet cable. (e.g., cat 5, cat 5e, cat6 and some earlier Cat3, etc. Cat=category.) The connectors are the same and for most usage you would never know the difference. However, there would be some differences for high-end applications.

All patch cables are labeled to what thier certification is, as is required by TIA specification, the cable itself says what it is, including if it is a corssover cable...

-Vincent

"Lanterra Products Type CM 24AWG 75°C (UL) E188630 CSA LL81295 CM6 ETL VERIFIED EIA/TIA-568A CAT5 61K202"

What I can see is:
1. black, blue, blue, orange
2. black, orange, blue, blue

And, yes, this is the cable that was shipped with, and used to connect our PC to, our original modem in 2002.

Phone cords may be part of a "worldwide standard" but -- unlike with ethernet cables -- I often have to deal with places in the world where the standard phone cords (like we find in the US) cannot be used without a plug head/connector adaptor.

In Sweden, for example, there are places where the telephone gets plugged in through a wall socket that looks more like a 4-point/5-point electrical plug and would not accept the standard phone cord head/connector that we plug into the walls in the US -- unless first used with a plug head/connector adaptor.

The (non-crossover) patch patch cables that I make or repair have no labels. Nor do the 50 or so Ithat I have in my basement.

Any non-standard cables that I would touch (like crossover) WOULD get a lebel, though.

Phone cords are not a worldwide standard. I think bpratt was saying that ethernet cables look like large phone cords, and are a worldwide standard.

How's you eyesight? The words on the cable claim it's cat 5, but that should have 8 colored wires. It doesn't look like one of these?

Enormous thanks, murphy,

Eyesight is lousy (very strong bifocals).

By adding a magnifying glass to the mix and with the aid of the helpful diagrams you linked, I have determined that I have a crossover ethernet cable.

So I guess if I want to connect my laptop to a modem or, physically, to my router, I'll need to get another ethernet cable (preferably type A).

Or, if I want to use the laptop's internal modem in Europe, I'll need to get an adapter for the modem-cable (telephone-type) that came with the laptop. (Laptop just arrived yesterday and I've only gotten as far as opening the box, so I'm just figuring out what's there.)

Read the cable very very carefully...

-Vincent

I think Roberto99 is in my position as well...

When the cable comes from a thousand foot box, and the connectors come from a bag of fifty, the resulting cable has no label on it to indicate if I made a straight through or crossover cable. Or if I missed a pin somewhere and have an entirely new wiring scheme ;)

In my cases the label is never there (I just look at the plug when I need to verify), but I think roberto99 is a fair sight more conscientious than I am ^

Slightly OT: Bulk Cable + connectors costs significantly less than 50 pc x 10 ft @ Best Buy :D

The cable is NEVER labeled str8 or crossover when purchased in bulk, because whether it is one or the other is determined by how you terminate it . When you buy patch cable, read the cable itself, it is labeled.

Bulk cable is ALWAYS labeled what it is certified to on the cable.

-Vincent

That is because BestBuy charges a whopping $19.95 for a frikkin ethernet cable.

FWIW; my source for cheap cables is www.monoprice.com

I second the recommendation for monoprice. I bought an hdmi and a couple optical audio cables from them for < $20. The hdmi alone would have been $50 at radio shack or bestbuy.

Exactly. As opposed to the old days, when you had thick coax 3MB Ethernet, thick coax 10MB Ethernet, thin coax 10MB Ethernet, 10/100 Base T (modern Ethernet), 100MB FDDI, 4 and 16MB token ring, and Arcnet (which I think was also 4MB). And coax ethernet had a variety of different connectors include AUI with slide lock(the worst connector design EVER), bayonet, and vampire taps.

However, if the original poster is in any doubt, a short new Ethernet cable (3-6 feet) should only cost a buck or two at a computer supply store, so you could just buy a new one and toss the old. I just threw away a dozen yesterday because I was cleaning out my garage and couldn't remember which ones were "good" and which were "broken", and it wasn't worth the time to try them. Cheaper to just make some new ones.

Bob

Chances are you will not need a telephone adapter, normally the wall sockets can be different country to country, but if you unplug the cable at the 'phone end it "should" plug directly into your laptop

That's my source for supplies, too.

Another Stupid Question (or, There's Always Something)
 

Okay, so I went to Best Buy to buy a Category 5 ethernet cable and came home with a Category 6 ethernet cable (all they had). "RJ45 male to male".

Stupid question #1: Is this a problem?

Also, before I leave for Europe, I need to set up the new laptop. Now, my network is "wireless", but it has 4 ethernet ports, and I want to plug the laptop into that in order to download Win XP patches, anti-virus updates, etc.

Stupid question #2, et al: Do I have to shut down my entire network, PC, modem, router in order to connect the laptop through the ethernet port?

Does it matter whether I connect the cable to the laptop before or after I connect it to the router? (This is probably important only if the router is not turned off.)

You should be okay just as long as you're not going to Antarctica or Australia.
The bits run backwards there, just like the water down the drain.
Fortunately, I still have a couple patch cables hanging around from my trip down there a few years ago. Make me an offer and they're yours... :D

Male to Male? This sounds like OMNI material :D

No worries. The category of the cable just determines the number of twists per meter. The more twists, the more the noise cancellation, the better the signal strength. You can use anything from Cat 3 to Cat 6 and have no worries at all.

RJ45 is the type of connector. It's like a fat phone plug - 8 wires. As long as the 8 wires are in the same order on both ends of the cable than it is a standard ethernet cable.

Ethernet cables are hot-swappable - no need to shut down network equipment. You may however need to reload things at a software level, but no need to shut anything off physically. The order in which you connect the cable matters not.

Thanks for the info, gt_croz.

I'll keep that in mind if I ever head down south. :D

A lot of hotel phones will also have a data port that you can plug into even if the phone is hard wired and plugged into a non-standard jack.