I need to extend my home ethernet network and will be adding several RJ45 sockets and switches.
Is there anyway that I can determine whether the existing sockets have been wired as T568a or T568b without taking off one of the faceplates?
I think you’ll be lifting the face plates, I’m afraid.
How old is the current installation? I ask as T-568A is the older standard enabling backwards compatibility with landline phones using RJ11 > RJ45 adapters.
For pure LAN use, B is the way to go, especially on longer cable runs as there’s less crosstalk in theory, but you’d need 200 plus feet of cable and a very expensive test box to measure the difference.
1 & 2 Green = A
1 & 2 Orange = B
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I had the existing ethernet cabling done 4 years ago.
Unfortunately the electrician that I used has now retired.
Guess that I’ll be lifting the face plates.
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It doesn’t really matter.
Both T-568A and T-568B connect the same pins end to end, the difference in which physical pair in the cable is used is slight and subtle, and probably does not apply to gigabit Ethernet where all the pairs are used anyway.
The small difference is to do with the exact twists per foot of the different pairs.
If you are not trying to get 100baseT over its maximum distance either will do, but most people use the “B” pattern (as mentioned by NotALot)
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Reasonable sensible discussion here:
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