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 structured cabling in the U.S. It uses four pairs of wires, with each pair being a different color.
  • The T568A wiring standard differs from T568B only in the order of the green and orange pairs. However, it has been surpassed by T568B – if you are unsure of which standard to use, choose T568B.

We recommend using the same wiring scheme on both ends of a cable to ensure proper connectivity.

T-568A RJ45 Color Code

RJ45 Color CodeT-568B RJ45 Color Code

RJ45 Color Code

Crossover RJ45 Color Code
A crossover cable utilizes two different RJ45 color codes for the two ends of the cable. If you need to connect 568A equipment to 568B you can use a crossover cable.

RJ45 Color Code