[lug] Cat 5e cable color codes

[D. Stimits]

Matt Clauson wrote:
> Another piece of useless trivia:
> 
> There are two types of colors in cabling.  Your primary colors (blue,
> orange, green, brown, slate) you'll see most often, in "single runs"
> (those individual pieces of cat5) -- however, in larger installs, you'll
> frequently encounter larger cables (25 pair is the most frequent one I
> see) -- this means you have to have secondary colors.  In most small
> installs the only secondary you see is the first one, white...
> However, the order goes like this:  white, red, black, yellow, violet
> (a former colleague gave me a great mnemonic:  Will Rogers Bought Yellow
> Violets)...  So in larger installs, you might see something like this:
> 
> Blue/White: pair 1
> ...
> Slate/White: pair 5
> Blue/Red: pair 6
> ...
> Slate/Red: pair 10
> and so on.
> 
> Note that this order changes somewhat for fiber installs, where there
> isn't a "circuit", per se.  But the order still remains, at least
> somewhat.  (I think they tag pink and aqua on the end of the list, to
> make a "bundle" of 12 fibers)
> 
> And, if that isn't confusing enough, for EVEN LARGER cables, each 25 pair
> "bundle" is wrapped with a colored thread (remember that damned annoying
> little white thread in the cat5?  Now you know what it's there for)
> using, as memory serves, the same color scheme as the "secondary" colors.
> (You old-hand cabole monkeys [poke poke, Nate] feel free to correct me
> if I'm a little off base here)
> 
> One final item that hit my mind -- when I've been working in Telco areas.
> I usually see two types of cross-connect wire.  Either white (or yellow)
> and blue,  or white(yellow) and red.  White/Blue usually means a PSTN/
> analog/voice line, while white/red usually means hi-cap/data/dedicated
> circuit.  Usually the non-voice stuff is tagged with circuit IDs and
> the like (either a bright orange or white tag).
> 
> Ok, is that enough info for you?
> 
> BTW -- in any modern plant I've seen, 568B *is* the going standard.
> And yes, you can get Cat5 rated 25pair cable -- some of the Extreme
> Networks gear even comes with options to plug in a centronics-headed
> cable -- saves lots of stress on the ports on the switch if you're just
> cross-connecting patch panels.  Heh.

Most of the indications I saw were for "A", but they were all references 
for small home networks for the most part (4 pairs, 8 wires total). I 
don't know if maybe the 25 pair would alter the cable dynamics, and make 
the "B" suddenly become the better way. I'm already wired for the "A" (I 
still have several rooms to wire so I'm not finished), so I'll stick to 
that. I'd love to talk to an engineer that actually studies the "A" 
versus "B", and find out what the differences are in the end (that might 
sound boring, but remember, I actually have fun with computers).

D. Stimits, stimits AT idcomm.com