Are ethernet cables blue or yellow?

[TheNerdAL]

So I messed up a blue cable the connects the modem and router together. I was wondering if that was an ethernet cable or something. I need to replace it because I think that's the cause of my internet not working. Thanks. :)

My internet stopped working today and I felt so disconnected from the world lol, do you all feel this way too? That's just a bonus question.

[Elfy]

Heh - I have blue, red, yellow and white cables.

A normal RJ45 connector http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ethernet_RJ45_connector_p1160054.jpg

No - I don't feel disconnected from the world without the internet. This comes back to your threads about not getting out - try it sometime ;)

[pipemartinm]

Cat 5/6 UTP Cables can be any colour however blue is the most common. Many router manufacturers (IE Cisco) ship yellow UTP console cables however the pin outs are identical to normal cables.


So I messed up a blue cable the connects the modem and router together. I was wondering if that was an ethernet cable or something. I need to replace it because I think that's the cause of my internet not working. Thanks. :)


I'd say that's a very safe bet. Go buy a $5 Cat 6 cable from almost any technology store.

[What Rights]

The colors are cross compatible for me, they are only colored for the usual ignorant end-user.

[TheNerdAL]

Thanks guys! :D I should go out more too! :D I shall get a new ethernet cable then. :)

[grahammechanical]

The colours do mean something. See the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable. Whether it makes a difference in a home set up where the cable runs are not excessive, I do not know.

regards.

[Tristam Green]

I have a pink cable at work. It keeps people from stealing it.

[Spice Weasel]

The colours do mean something. See the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable. Whether it makes a difference in a home set up where the cable runs are not excessive, I do not know.

regards.

That's strange, I have a black one but that's not listed.

[gogadan]

I have blue,yellow and white ones.as in terms of your black one not listed on wiki,I will only say that I don't trust much on wiki due to much of it needing citation but that's just my own view.

[jroa]

The color does not mean as much as the order of the wires in side. Basically, you have cross-over cables and straight through cables. The straight through cables have the same order of wires on both ends of the plug, while the cross-over cables are opposite in order at each end. Both have the same RJ-45 plugs at each end and both can be considered Ethernet cables.

Normally, a straight through cable is used to connect the computer to the router, while a cross-over cable connects the router to the modem.

edit:
Modern routers may auto detect the cable and be able to use either cable for either application, or so I have heard.

[jroa]

The colours do mean something. See the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable. Whether it makes a difference in a home set up where the cable runs are not excessive, I do not know.

regards.

That link discusses the colors of the individual conductors, not the cable color.

[_h_]

Heh - I have blue, red, yellow and white cables.

Same here.

[epsolon77]

Thank you jroa for clearing that up. The jacket color is what every one is referring to here, and there is really no difference in the colors of jacket color. However there are two types of jackets. Plenum and UTP. Plenum does not burn as fast and releases fewer toxins. Here in the US if you run a cable through any ventilation system, like drop ceilings without a true return duct (otherwise known as a Plenum) then you must use Plenum rated cable. 99% of what you find in a store is Riser or UTP. Unless you are running cable in wall, don't worry about Plenum, however if you see it online, now you know.

[Dragonbite]

I can't tell what color mine are. I set up the system in the basement and it's sooo dark down there!

[jroa]

Thank you jroa for clearing that up. The jacket color is what every one is referring to here, and there is really no difference in the colors of jacket color. However there are two types of jackets. Plenum and UTP. Plenum does not burn as fast and releases fewer toxins. Here in the US if you run a cable through any ventilation system, like drop ceilings without a true return duct (otherwise known as a Plenum) then you must use Plenum rated cable. 99% of what you find in a store is Riser or UTP. Unless you are running cable in wall, don't worry about Plenum, however if you see it online, now you know.

You are right about the Plenum rated cable. For normal patch cords, though, I am not sure if they are offered with different ratings.

I think manufacturers color code the cable jackets just to make it easier for someone to set up. My wireless router uses a green cable to connect to the modem and blue cables to connect computers to the router. My old one used yellow and blue, I think. I don't think there are any standards for these colors.

[CharlesA]

I think manufacturers color code the cable jackets just to make it easier for someone to set up. My wireless router uses a green cable to connect to the modem and blue cables to connect computers to the router. My old one used yellow and blue, I think. I don't think there are any standards for these colors.

Indeed. I think they've pretty much color-coded home routers/cable and dsl modems to take the guess work out of "where does this plug into??" I know all my gear uses straight-thru cables, with autosensing ports.

I've got Yellow, Blue, Green, Black, White, Red and Grey straight-thru cables. I originally thought that yellow was reserved for cross-over, but it's easy enough to tell by comparing the ends.

[samalex]

I keep one in my laptop bag that's blue, but the one I have at work now is gray. I don't think i own any yellow cables, but most of the ones in my house are green.

A friend of mine used to own a local computer shop, and he did some work for Baylor here in Waco. Green is their color, so for some reason they asked for Green Cat5 cable used for jobs where cables would be exposed. Because of this he had TONS of extra spindles of green cable, which he gave me one.

Sam

[cascade9]

I know all my gear uses straight-thru cables, with autosensing ports.

+1.


I've got Yellow, Blue, Green, Black, White, Red and Grey straight-thru cables. I originally thought that yellow was reserved for cross-over, but it's easy enough to tell by comparing the ends.

There never was any hard and fast 'rule' on the cables (epsolon77 is right, technically we are talking about the jackets). But all the crossover cables I used to see were yellow, straight through cables were mostly blue. Crossovers stayed yellow well after you could get pretty much any colour you wanted in straight through cables. I've seen crossovers in pretty much every colour now.

[pricetech]

Most of the crossovers I've seen are red, but no it's not a standard.

You're right about the different color cables making it easier for home users to set up. Yellow cable in yellow jack, blue cable in blue jack, etc.

I use different colors here to differentiate between subnets. (I have access to 4 in my office, 5 if I wanted to split another drop)

UTP stands for Unshielded Twisted Pair. It has nothing to do with the type jacket. Plenum cable is insulated and jacketed with Teflon while "non-plenum" cable is PVC. You can usually tell by how the cable feels in your hand. Plenum cable usually has a "slicker" feel to it and tends to be just a little stiffer.

I used to be a "cable dog". I can terminate with RJ45s in my sleep.

[juancarlospaco]

A FireWire is really on fire...?

[TriBlox6432]

I remember in IT Essentials class we had to make an ethernet cable from Cat5 and RJ-45 jacks. I was partnered with a kid that didn't know anything about it. Ours was actually functional though. xD

[xpod]

I`ve still got a few crossover cables myself among the couple of dozen ethernet cables i seem to have accumulated and the jackets all different colours/shades. Namely dark Grey, light Grey, Yellow & Beige. One i bought, one i made and i`m not sure where the other two came from exactly.:?

I`ve only ever needed any of them when connecting two computers together directly for ICS. Nowadays the houses modem>router>computers all use straight through cables.

[cariboo]

Belkin (http://belkin.com/ca/IWCatSectionView.process?Section_Id=206685) uses yellow for crossover cables.

[LowSky]

The colours do mean something. See the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable. Whether it makes a difference in a home set up where the cable runs are not excessive, I do not know.

regards.
[-X
That's the colors of the internal wiring. The outer shielding that most people see can be any color. My house has black, grey, white, yellow, and blue cables going through it.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

The color of the cable doesn't mean anything about the cable itself. The cables come in many colors. Where I work we use the cable colors and firewalls in an attempt to keep networks isolated from each other. We have a different color cable for each network. When you want to plug a blue cable into a switch/router with nothing but yellow cables, you think "something is not right here".

We have a [pick a color] network that is exposed to the outside world (Internet) for advertising, placing orders, email, and so forth.

We have a [pick a color] network for internal business use that is company private or proprietary; such as, accounting, project bids, project scheduling, and so forth.

We also have a [pick a color] network for development of software products where we don't want incompetent managers mucking around. (Oh, I didn't say that. :D) Actually, it is isolated for intellectual property reasons, security, and so forth.

[beercz]

Cat 5/6 UTP Cables can be any colour however blue is the most common.
I thought grey is the most common - it seems to be when you see reels of the stuff used in cable installs.

I have red, green, yellow, blue (light and dark), orange, black and white coloured cables. - A rainbow effect.

Don't have a pink one though, and I have seen purple ones.

I have to get out more.

[jroa]

I thought grey is the most common - it seems to be when you see reels of the stuff used in cable installs.

I have red, green, yellow, blue (light and dark), orange, black and white coloured cables. - A rainbow effect.

Don't have a pink one though, and I have seen purple ones.

I have to get out more.

I don't know why, but most of the cabling in our plant is grey except for any new cables that have been pulled in the last several years. They are all blue.

I need to ask our network admin if there was some kind of standard change. But like I said, all of the cable that has been pulled for at least the last 4 years has all been blue. I am talking about Cat 5 and Cat 6 UTP.

[Lucradia]

The colours do mean something. See the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable. Whether it makes a difference in a home set up where the cable runs are not excessive, I do not know.

regards.

I don't see "all white" or gray on there.

[ubunterooster]

I currently see White, light tan, yellow, lime-green, red, and blue in front of me. I will use no two same cables nearby and have more cables elsewhere

[Dragonbite]

I just plug in cables wherever they fit and hope for the best.

[pwnst*r]

The colors are cross compatible for me, they are only colored for the usual ignorant end-user.

You've never held a real job in IT, have you?

[aeiah]

i just plug in cables wherever they fit and hope for the best.

are you crazy?!?!?

You could permanently reverse the flow of the internets!

[mips]

I don't know why, but most of the cabling in our plant is grey except for any new cables that have been pulled in the last several years. They are all blue.

I need to ask our network admin if there was some kind of standard change. But like I said, all of the cable that has been pulled for at least the last 4 years has all been blue. I am talking about Cat 5 and Cat 6 UTP.

Companies usually have internal standards for cabling colour which is specific to that company. We used grey & blue for two separate networks and this was the standard throughout the entire company covering thousands of sites. Cables that carried power (PoE) used yellow fly & patch leads to distinguish them from the normal ones.

Grey is the most commonly used colour out there.

[handy]

...
Grey is the most commonly used colour out there.

Is the grey Cat 6?

I still have what is left of a 100mtr roll of Cat 6, that I bought for a job once, it came painted grey.

All of rolls of Cat 5, that I ever bought were blue; I have seen fly leads in red when they were crossover but that was just how that company marketed them at the time. I've also noticed yellow is popular for gigabit fly leads here.

There doesn't really seem to be any standard, we are at the mercy of the marketroids again...

[koenn]

the category and other specs are usually printed on the jacker, every 2 feet or so.

Since the colors are meaningless, there's no need to standardize at the supplier level, you just need to develop your own color coding (for networks, VLANs, or whatever is significant at your site) and find a supplier that carries enough colours for your needs.

This time, it's not the marketdroids' fault

[juancarlospaco]

Just i need to say that there are NOT "Ethernet" cable

Ethernet cable dont exist at all

:)

[handy]

...
This time, it's not the marketdroids' fault

I know, it never was, it comes down to an international standards authority deciding that there is a need for such a colour coding standard & it would seem to have been decided long ago that there isn't one.

I just like having a dig at the marketroids every chance I get. Though I know the battle was lost to them before I was even born... ;)

[mips]

Is the grey Cat 6?

I still have what is left of a 100mtr roll of Cat 6, that I bought for a job once, it came painted grey.

All of rolls of Cat 5, that I ever bought were blue; I have seen fly leads in red when they were crossover but that was just how that company marketed them at the time. I've also noticed yellow is popular for gigabit fly leads here.

There doesn't really seem to be any standard, we are at the mercy of the marketroids again...

Nope. Colour is not related to category of cable.

[Grenage]

RJ45? Pfft, you noobs. It's 8P8C! ;)

Sheath colour makes no real difference.
Wire colour should be maintained to standards.
Crossovers are preferable to straight-through, bet not essential with modern kit.

[coutts99]

RJ45? Pfft, you noobs. It's 8P8C! ;)

Sheath colour makes no real difference.
Wire colour should be maintained to standards.
Crossovers are preferable to straight-through, bet not essential with modern kit.

Explain please

[Grenage]

Most, if not all kit only uses auto-MDIX if the port is using automatic configuration. That usually works well, but sometimes one needs to configure things manually, crossover cables simply remove the possibility that the link won't work in such a case.

It obviously affects companies more than home users; you can't compare a 2-10 connection network to one with 250-10,000 connections.

[coutts99]

Most, if not all kit only uses auto-MDIX if the port is using automatic configuration. That usually works well, but sometimes one needs to configure things manually, crossover cables simply remove the possibility that the link won't work, if that happens.

It obviously affects companies more than home users; you can't compare a 2-10 connection network to one with 250-10,000 connections.

A lot does these days, but certainly not most.

Certainly approx 70% of our kit doesn't, that's about 1500 switches/routers that don't

Edit: Ok, most probably does these days, but out of our 1500 that don't, I don't expect many to be upgraded to new hardware unless the old hardware fails.

[Grenage]

What I meant was that most kit that has an auto-MDIX feature, will only use it if the port is set to 'automatic' configuration. I wire anything that should be using a crossover connection with a crossover patch.

[coutts99]

Anyway I personally think auto mdix is bad, seen too many cases of users plugging both ends of a cable into two different network outlets, thanks to auto mdix, network meltdown due to a loop :mad:

[julio_cortez]

network meltdown due to a loop :mad:
Which is caused by.. You know, PEBKAC :lolflag:

Anyway I never really thought the outer colour of an 'Ethernet' cable was standing for something particular.. I've seen grey, yellow, blue, white and even an orange cable (which is currently plugged in the interns' PC) and all of them are fine :D

[Grenage]

Anyway I personally think auto mdix is bad, seen too many cases of users plugging both ends of a cable into two different network outlets, thanks to auto mdix, network meltdown due to a loop :mad:

Aye, hooray for STP. :)

[formaldehyde_spoon]

The colours do mean something. See the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable. Whether it makes a difference in a home set up where the cable runs are not excessive, I do not know.

regards.


!!!!!

Those are the colours of the internal wires.

The outer colour of cat5/6 cables is cosmetic only. It means nothing.

EDIT: oops, just noticed pages 2,3,4... :-o

[k33bz]

blue and gray are the most common colors, however they can be just about any color.

[beercz]

The colours do mean something. See the Wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category_5_cable. Whether it makes a difference in a home set up where the cable runs are not excessive, I do not know.

regards.
it makes a difference: http://www.lanshack.com/make-cat5e.aspx

[Dragonbite]

I have a red cable I use between the modem and the firewall (red=internet), a yellow one going from the firewall to the router (yellow=getting safer), and blue from the router to each machine (blue=safest I'll get).

[formaldehyde_spoon]

it makes a difference: http://www.lanshack.com/make-cat5e.aspx

The poster you quoted was under the mistaken impression that the *outer* colour of the cable meant something. You, and the article he linked to, are talking about colours of inner wires.