Discussion on:

Network cable and switch

I made a patch cable to connect from an 8 port switch to a network printer. Will not work with the switch. Plug it into another port in another office and works. Plug it into our network switch and it works. Power cycled the 8 port and even swapped working patches with other ports and they are fine. Why would a patch cable work for any other port except for a port on a little switch? Strange to me. Thanks for your time.

*Update* I was able to get a store bought patch cable to work with the switch. Its a thicker Cat5e than the one I made. Unfortunately, it won't reach the printer. And I HATE mysteries. So still researching.

Some switches are 'auto MDX' (auto crossover) and some are not. If you accidentally made a crossover cable, it will work on a switch with auto MDX feature.

Also, some switches are pickier about precisely what voltage and cable characteristics they will accept. Some Ethernet switches also do POE (power over Ethernet) but I don't think that is the issue in this case.

If you make your own patch cables, TrendNET makes a nice tester for under $50

IS the printer a network printer and doesn't need to hang off a computer?

Second, is the port you want to use on the switch a normal port or an uplink port? Most switches have one on as either the first or last port and this uses a crossover cable while the rest use straight through cables.

NB you can visually check a patch cable by putting the two ends together and comparing the colours of the wires - if in the exact same order it's a straight through cable.