[goku2100]

IIRC crossover ethernet cables were used to connect one computer directly to another while straight through cables are meant to be used for connections to hubs. The reason I bring up this topic is because I was trying to get gigabit ethernet speeds on my network as was having trouble. I hear that you need a straight through cable for all gigabit ethernet operations otherwise it will slow down to 100Mb/s operation. So what happened if I used patch cables to hook up my systems to my 100Mb hub which hooked up to my 100Mb switch which hooked up into my 100Mb router. Would I get degraded performance if I use crossover cables instead of straight through for these type of operations?

I would greatly appreciate it if some one would clarify all of this because I'm not really sure now.

[fitzjj]

If you have a 100Mbit hub a 100Mbit switch and a 100Mbit router then you have a 100Mbit network no matter what you you do with your cables.

You are correct in saying that crossover cables are used to connect one computer directly to another - it is the same as a straight cable but a couple of the pairs on one end are crossed over.

If you used crossover cables instead of straight then you would get degraded performance in that it would not work at all. Crossover cables are only good for computer to computer and will do nothing else.

Do you really need Gigabit? Generally this is used as a backbone with 100Mbit subnets coming off of it.

Anyway as long as you have one 100Mbit device on your network it'll act as a bottleneck to any device that wants to talk through it.

So anyway when plugging anything into a switch or similar you need to use straight cables.

[office politics]

what depends on setting gigabit speeds is the nic/port. you can buy gigabit ethernet nics and switches, you can connect with straight/patch cat5 cables.

crossover cables are used to connect "like devices". They can be used to connect two nics, two hubs, or two switches. When connecting the hubs or switches, the two devices act as one.