steve1977 3 hours ago

People discovering that network cables can be used to network things. And then calling it a "trick" (I'm surprised it's not a "hack" actually).

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puzzlingcaptcha an hour ago | parent | next [-]

"It's possible to just connect two computers together with Ethernet" - on the front page of hackernews. Incredible. Ethernet over USB4 interdomain protocol at least had some novelty, but this...

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concerned_user 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Back in the day you needed a modified cable for this with RX/TX swapped on one end but nowadays probably all nic chips have auto-detect so you can take a normal patch cable and do it.

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pezezin 35 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Gigabit Ethernet sends and receive over the 4 pairs simultaneously using echo cancellation, so it doesn't need crossover cables.

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bronlund 3 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah, I remember those. When setting up an ad-hoc network, you were like; "where the eff is the crossover cable!" :D

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luz666 3 hours ago | parent [-]

it was the red one, right?

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bronlund 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Mine was just a custom made gray one, but I have seen those red ones, yes :D

	▲	Ekaros 2 hours ago \| parent [-]
		I bought bunch of ready made 10 meter cables for lan party dunno 15 or 20 years ago... Used with switch... Grey with nice paper label at end with "Cross over"... Haven't had any issues with them ever in regular use... So pointless even back then...

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ErroneousBosh 41 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

Mine were grey same as the normal patch cables but had red Hellerman sleeves at the ends.

Look at you with your fancy red Cat5 ;-)

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dolmen an hour ago | parent | prev | next [-]

In fact you just need one of the two ends to be able to auto swap RX/TX.

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steve1977 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Yeah so called crossover cables. But that's like decades ago.

	▲	johnwalkr 19 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yeah it's been about 20 years since there was a risk this didn't work.

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yjftsjthsd-h 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

If you're used to a "normal" network with a router, it's a revelation that you can go direct.