[ILUG] Re: Network cable questions

[Paul Mc Auley]

On Fri, 14 Jan 2000 16:47:18 GMT 
Kathryn Cassidy (User Account) <hellbunnie at irelands-web.ie>  wrote:

| Some time ago there was a discussion about home 
| networking where someone said they thought you could 
| only attach two computers directly with cat 5 cable 
| (ie. without a hub) if it was some "special cross-over 
| cable" and not just normal twisted pair.

| Can anyone confirm this?  Also, is there a name for 
| this type of cable, or if I go to peats/maplin asking 
| for cross-over cat 5 cable will they know what I'm 
| talking about.

Yes. To attach two NICs directly you need a crossover cable, if you ask 
somebody who knows what Cat-5 is, they should also be aware of crossovers. 
OTOH, I tried this at home for a while before I got sick of the machines 
whinging that I'd unplugged the other machine and I got a dinky little four 
port hub for about 30 quid from Dabs.
	Paul