[PhilNYC]

Anyone know what the difference is between an Ethernet "crossover" cable and a regular Ethernet cable?

I'm trying to hook my Squeezebox to my TIVO box...the instructions say to use an Ethernet crossover cable, and I'm wondering if my drawer full of regular Ethernet cables will be sufficient...

[bpape]

They're not the same - sorry.  Most devices will autodetect whether the cable is std or xover and adjust internally - yours evidently doesn't.

Here is a link on how to wire the std vs the xover version.

http://www.ertyu.org/steven_nikkel/ethernetcables.html

Bryan

[F-100]

A crossover Ethernet cable have different ends and is used to connect two Ethernet devices without a hub.

[bpape]

Agreed.  Most ethernet devices now though do not require a crossover cable as they're autosensing and will do the xover inside the unit on one end to get the proper connections. 

Bryan

[Porter]

And note that only one of the devices needs to have this capability in order to work.


You should try hooking it up with a standard ethernet cable and see what happens.  The Squeezebox uses a modern Ethernet chipset, it should do the xover on its own.

[JEaton]

I'm pretty sure that neither the Squeezebox or TiVo do auto-mdx, but it can't hurt to try it with a standard straight-through Ethernet patch cable.