LAN WIRING NOTES AND PINOUT DETAILS:

1. LAN cables are generically called UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) and are identified with a category rating. When installing new cable, unless there is a very good reason not to, you should be using category 5, 5e or 6 UTP which is rated for both 10 and 100Mbps Local Area Network operation.

2. UTP comes in two forms SOLID or STRANDED.  Solid refers to the fact that each internal conductor is made up of a single (solid) wire, Stranded means that each conductor is made up of multiple smaller wires. Stranded cable (which is typically more expensive) has a smaller 'bend- radius' (you can squeeze the cable round tighter corners without damage and lower loss) and due to its flexibility should be used where you plug and unplug the cable frequently.  Typically, solid cable is used for backbone wiring and stranded for PC to wall plug (patch) cables.

3. We recommend that you use different color sequences in your network to visually spot the difference between at least a straight and a crossed cable, and also to easily troubleshoot your network for physical connection.  This will save you time when having to troubleshoot connection issues, or when plugging or un-plugging access points or other network devices.  Connecting  the wrong type of cable into your network node, or access point can sometimes be harmful if you are using a power over Ethernet injector, which is sending power through the cat5 cable.  Another idea is to physically mark the cable, with a permanent marker, or colored tape to label the cat5 cable, instead of using different colored cables. The advantage of this scheme is that when you change your network layout, you know exactly what cable is connected to which device - saving you time and aggravation!

4. ALWAYS use 100baseTX/T4 wiring standards.

5. If you are using category 5, 5e or 6 wiring EVERYWHERE you can use the 100base-TX standard (this only uses 2 pairs , 4 conductors). Most of the information below assumes you are using category 5, 5e or 6 cables.  The other 2 pairs, (4 conductors) are used for power over Ethernet.

6. If you are using category 3 or 4 cables with 100M LANs ANYWHERE you MUST use the 100Base-T4 standard and this has ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS documented throughout (it uses all 4 pairs, 8 conductors). LAN connections/pinouts are defined by IEEE 802.3u.

7. Maximum LAN cable runs are 100 meters (~300ft).

8. If you are using Power-over-Ethernet (802.3af) then 568B or alternative B uses 4,5 and 7,8 to carry power*. In all cases the spec calls for polarity insensitive implementation (using a diode bridge) and therefore crossing or not crossing pairs 4,5 and 7,8 will have no effect.