Page 4 - Steve Bowman

RJ45 Color Codes Explained

An RJ45 connector is a modular, eight-position, eight-pin connector used for terminating Cat5e or Cat6 twisted-pair cable. An RJ45 color code or “pinout” is a specific arrangement of wires that dictate how the connector is terminated. Since the color code specifies the order in which the individual wires within the cable should be connected to the pins on the RJ45 connector, knowing the color code is essential when you need to make or repair Ethernet cables.

There are multiple pinouts for RJ45 connectors, including:

• Straight-through (T568A or T568B)
• Crossover
• Rolled
• T1
• Loopback

Straight-through is the most common type of cable and is used for connecting your computer to your network. The other RJ45 color codes are for specialty cables that are used for unique network applications.

Within the family of straight-through R45 color codes, there are two standards recognized by ANSI, TIA, and EIA:

• The T568B wiring standard is seen as the default wiring scheme for twisted-pair

Think about the types of cables you use to connect your electronic devices. How many of those cable formats were being used 20, 30 or 40 years ago?

If you come up empty here, let us jog your memory and call attention to the humble but still-relevant composite audio/video RCA cable. These cables with their familiar red, white and yellow connectors continue to provide dependable, cost-effective connections for audio and video devices.

RCA audio and video cables are not quite as popular as they used to be. In many cases they have been edged out by non-RCA formats, such as HDMI cables. However, RCA remains alive and well. This blog post examines six reasons why they still make sense for many consumers. But first, a little background …

Composite RCA vs. Component RCA

The most common composite RCA cables contain either two or three lines. The red and white connectors of a two-line model carry the right and left audio channels of a stereo signal. The added yellow connector of three-line models

Fiber optic distribution cable might not be considered the fanciest optical fiber cable on the market. Sturdy as it is, it is probably not part of the fiber deployment now being used on the International Space Station.

But fiber optic distribution cable is the most popular optical fiber cable SMC offers, because it is used almost everywhere in a building. It’s no wonder it is commonly referred to as “backbone” cabling – the wires that connect just about everything to everything.

Our indoor distribution fiber cable is a go-to, general purpose cable that can be installed vertically or horizontally. Its tight buffered design, with multiple protection layers around the fiber core, suits it well for use as LAN backbone wiring within a building. This includes trunk cabling that runs horizontally to connect data center equipment, telecom rooms and workstations, as well as vertically up and down riser shafts between floors.

By the way, distribution fiber cable is not limited to use in large commercial

The term “bulk quantity” might bring to mind the image of an assembly line. But at ShowMeCables it means the opposite.

When you order bulk cable from us − say, a 1,000-foot roll of Cat6, a 500-foot roll of fiber optic or 100 feet of coax − you get the ability to customize an installation to meet your exact needs.

When you purchase bulk cable from ShowMeCables, you get six big benefits:

Bulk Cable in Your Specialty

We don’t just offer bulk cable in the most popular types. Whatever your need, we have it − in Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a, Cat7 and Cat8, 10GX tray cable, fiber optic, coaxial, low-loss coaxial, telephone wire, audio and video, multi-conductor, portable cord, variable-frequency drive cable (VFD). fire alarm cable and high-temperature cable.

You can customize cables to fit your solution as well, with many different jacket types, conductor counts, gauges, colors, and shielding options available. These include indoor, outdoor, riser, plenum, direct burial, industrial grade

ShowMeCables keeps an inventory of 25,000+ products. And yet we realize that, for some of you, 25,000 is not enough.

Sometimes you need connectivity products in nonstandard lengths and configurations. For instance:

• Unique combinations of cables, connectors and adapters for Ethernet, fiber optics, RF coaxial and more
• Specially made antennas
• Weatherproof NEMA enclosures with pre-installed mounts or equipment

SMC offers these types of custom products and more, and this blog post reveals how surprisingly easy it is to get them. But first, if you’re undecided whether custom connectivity is the way to go, let’s summarize the three main benefits of such products.

Custom Products Last Longer

Going custom means choosing a product that is designed for a certain purpose. A custom wireless antenna handles the exact gain and frequency you need. Mounting plates in a custom NEMA enclosure can be metal or nonmetal for RF applications. When your installation operates within the electrical parameters,

Multimode fiber optic cable supports high bandwidths, works great at shorter distances, has a larger core size that is easy to terminate and is usually cheaper than single-mode fiber cable.

So, why do so many people prefer single-mode fiber?

This blog post explains the benefits and uses of single-mode fiber optic cable, as well as the differences between single-mode simplex and duplex.

Single Mode: Stronger Signal, Longer Distance

Single-mode fiber optic glass has a narrower core than multimode and light travels a single path (mode) through it. Single mode’s smaller core minimizes reflection of light passing through, so there is less signal attenuation, or loss of strength. This allows single-mode fiber cable to transmit over distances up to 62 miles or more, and with virtually unlimited bandwidth. Applications include longer distance LANs, telephony and cable TV, although it is used in data centers as well.

Multimode fiber has a much larger core diameter and light travels multiple paths

The Main Specs and Applications for Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a, Cat7 and Cat8

Though there is a lot of talk about wireless and fiber optic connectivity these days, the business world still revolves around Ethernet cables. In most corporate offices, the PCs are connected via Ethernet cables to a central network hub or switch. The cables allow employees to communicate with one another on the network and to access files from servers.

Copper Is Still King

It’s true that copper wires cannot move data as fast as fiber optic cables, and take more work to install than wireless connections. But through the years Ethernet cables have become steadily faster and able to handle more and more bandwidth while remaining less costly than fiber. Also, they offer tighter cybersecurity and more control over access than Wi-Fi.

It is no wonder that most networking devices are still built with RJ-45 connectors. But Ethernet cabling can be confusing, considering all the cable categories that have been introduced over

How to Find What You Need, from DisplayPort to Thunderbolt 4 to HDMI to RapidRun

Gone are the days when hooking up an audiovisual system required only speaker wire and a few S-Video and RCA cables. Today’s AV components do so much more, and with faster data transfer speeds, higher image resolution and pristine sound reproduction.

Of course, such advancements would be impossible without the AV cable assemblies that connect these components. Since starting out in 1995, ShowMeCables has kept pace with the latest trends in audio video cable assemblies. Below we summarize what you will find in our inventory.

Let’s start with the three categories where we have made our latest AV cable additions – DisplayPort 2.0, HDMI 2.1 and Thunderbolt™ 4. All three will allow you to upgrade your conference room, medical device, theater, AV screen or gaming setup to the latest in high-speed, high-definition standards.

DisplayPort 2.0 Cable Assemblies

DisplayPort 2.0 enables up to a threefold increase in

If you Google “Ethernet patch cable” you will get over a million hits. But while shopping for them can be confusing, you really only have to know four main things:

• What exactly is a patch cable?
• What are the main differences of the cable categories?
• What are your form factor options?
• What are your cable jacket options?

What Exactly Is a Patch Cable?

In a typical corporate office, the PCs are connected via Ethernet cables to a central network hub or switch, located in an IT room or closet. The hub or switch allows the PCs to communicate with one another on the network and to access files from servers. Also in the room are other network devices such as servers, routers and network media players. All these devices are connected, typically through patch panels. With its multiple ports, a patch panel is a switchboard of sorts that employs short Ethernet patch cables with connectors on both ends to make it easier to reconfigure the routing of the devices.

So, Ethernet patch cables, aka patch

As the demand continues for increased bandwidth and data rates, there is also a need for freeing up more space in data centers and IT closets. In today’s enterprise IT world, smaller cable sizes are sometimes required along with the need for higher performance.

To help you meet these needs, ShowMeCables continues to update its offerings of Category 7 cables, which have many of the functions of Cat8, as well as Cat6a and Cat6 cables. These products offer not only faster throughput, with speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps), but take up less room, with features such as a flat, slim or “super slim” profiles. Two other options with increased demand are cable jackets that are bacteriostatic or low smoke zero halogen (LSZH).

If you are considering speeding up your connectivity or using cables that are lighter and take up less room, below we summarize the differences among the Ethernet categories as well as explain some of the most in-demand special features of our cables.

Cat6 Cable