hey i got a question i want ask what are the similarities of Straight and Cross cable

It's usually the differences that are important. Course it would help to know what kind of cable you're talking about and what you plan to use it for. There is nothing to learn from someone who already agrees with you.

If you are talking about Cat5/6 network cable then the only difference is the way the plugs are wired. The following diagram will explain. http://www.pcmobilehelp.com/support... There are two standards. EIA/TIA 568A and EIA/TIA 568B It doesn't matter which one you use providing you use the same standard at both ends of the cable for a normal strait through cable. For a crossover cable one end is wired as 568A and the other as 568B. The purpose of a crossover cable is to connect two similar pieces of equipment like two NIC to connect two computer directly or two switches if they don't have an uplink port. A crossover cable does the same job as a null modem cable when connecting two RS232 serial ports together. Stuart

Sounds like another homework question to me.

If it is a homework question the person setting the question could have phrased it a bit better. Asking for the similarities as opposed to the differences indicates someone that has absolutely no understanding of network cables. Stuart

That is the way the tester wants it phrased. That way the person taking the test is obliged to describe the characteristics of both types of cables. Kind of a trick question. The word similarities is the give away, IMO.

Except for the way the plugs are wired the characteristics are identical. You might just as well ask for the characteristics of Cat5/6 cable. You would get the same answer. Answering the question as asked you wouldn't go anywhere near the plug wiring as it is not a similarity. If you are setting questions to test a persons knowledge and understanding, trick questions should be avoided. All that does is test the candidates ability to answer trick questions and just causes confusion. Stuart