I Don't Suppose Anyone Can Explain...
... why Category 5 network cables seem to be so picky in line order? I know the (well, a) right way to make a patch cable. The mantra of color order has been ingrained into my mind after doing it many, many times. Ultimately, though, the same color on one end matches the same color on the other end, and I always wondered if there was a real reason why the blue and green pairs get mixed up in the middle. With some research, I've come to understand that has a little to do with compatibility with phone cables that usually use central pins as a line pair and the outer two (of four) pins for a second line. This makes some sense to me. And yet, someone brought a cable to me today because it wasn't working on his network at home. He had attached the connectors at the end with the pairs simply wired straight through. A tester showed signals getting through on each individual line, so why would it actually matter how the pairs are ordered? Yet when I tried plugging it in, sure eno...