What should I call the cable I need? *solved
from Tagger@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 09:31
https://lemmy.world/post/34764677

Hi all. I need an Ethernet cable that goes from one of these ends to the other. What would I call it so that I can search for it and buy it on the internet?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks all - turns out I was being really dense. Thanks to the commenters who helped me sort out my thickness!

#nostupidquestions

threaded - newest

Rhaxapopouetl@ttrpg.network on 21 Aug 09:35 next collapse

Michael

redlemace@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:27 collapse

dad joke detected - take my upvote

Lembot_0004@discuss.online on 21 Aug 09:38 next collapse

That stupid shitty 6-pin abomination is called RJ11 6P6C.

aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com on 21 Aug 09:40 next collapse

Clearly 6P2C

Lembot_0004@discuss.online on 21 Aug 09:42 collapse

Yeah, but I still prefer “stupid shitty 6-pin abomination” name for clarity.

redlemace@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 09:57 next collapse

I doubt you really lived the analog phone era /s

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7ced88fe-a8b5-486f-b99d-8f7d957d284b.png">

Lembot_0004@discuss.online on 21 Aug 10:00 next collapse

I lived in the era when they taught us to count instead :)

redlemace@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:08 collapse

Count von Count send his greetings. Said he remembers you and me very well!

SmoothLiquidation@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 16:40 collapse

My house growing up had a bunch of those (female) ports around and we had the adapters to convert them to RJ11.

redlemace@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 18:46 collapse

Those existed with femail rj11 built in

aubeynarf@lemmynsfw.com on 21 Aug 13:40 collapse

Not sure why it’s shitty - easy to assemble, cheap, effective at eliminating contact noise with a high-compliance wiping contact.

the only shitty part is the exposed retaining clip which gets broken off

SubArcticTundra@lemmy.ml on 21 Aug 12:35 collapse

What did it do to u?

Lembot_0004@discuss.online on 21 Aug 12:42 collapse

Exist. Just look at it! Abomination as it is!

NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de on 21 Aug 09:38 next collapse

I don’t think so. They aren’t compatible. Even in the photo, you can see that the right cable only has 2 pins, while an Ethernet connector has 8 (I think). Definitely more than 2.

What are you actually trying to do? What device are you trying to connect, and to where?

My guess is that you’re going to need a modem, but please give more context.

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:11 next collapse

Thanks, I’m connecting my phillips hue hub to my router. I had a cable that did it previously, but the openreach guys used it to connect the fibre to the router.

NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de on 21 Aug 10:15 next collapse

Is this the hub in question?

<img alt="" src="https://discuss.tchncs.de/pictrs/image/8c046db1-c290-4e25-b855-1a1f7272fb9f.png">

I think you need a perfectly normal Ethernet cable. It would help if you show a photo of both the router and the hub.

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:19 next collapse

that’s the one

NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de on 21 Aug 10:21 collapse

Then you just need a normal Ethernet cable. I don’t know why you thought the other end needs to be different.

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:29 collapse

Because I was being thick. Apparently there are stupid questions!

thezeesystem@lemmy.blahaj.zone on 21 Aug 10:41 collapse

Never a stupid question, people make mistakes, people see things wrong or brains just misfires. No shame in that, learning is important and that’s what you did and that’s the best part

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:44 collapse

Thank you! 😊

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:19 collapse

<img alt="" src="https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/7da7ca16-c800-46f4-8e89-30f3c7870899.jpeg">

NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de on 21 Aug 10:22 next collapse

What router is that?

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:24 collapse

BT Smart hub 2

NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de on 21 Aug 10:29 collapse

The ports on the router look weird. I want to look more into this but I’m afk for the next hour. Will look it up more afterwards.

testfactor@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:24 next collapse

Yeah, those are both definitely normal Ethernet jacks. Neither takes a phone cable. You should just need a normal Ethernet line.

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:28 next collapse

OMG, thank you so much, I was being super dense!

NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de on 21 Aug 11:49 collapse

Did it work? As I said, the ports on the router look a little weird, but if a normal network cable plugged into them then you’re good.

As others have said, you weren’t being dense at all. Your question wasn’t stupid, just a little misguided, and it was very quick for us to figure it out with just a little bit of back and forth. I wish all tech support was this efficient!

BTW, if anything I was being a bit rude when I said I wasn’t sure why you thought the other end needed to be different. Apologies for that. Looking at the photo of the router you sent around the same time, I can see why you thought that, it really does look different.

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 12:41 collapse

Thanks, yeah, it’s all back and working now.

NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de on 21 Aug 10:30 next collapse

The router ports are too short, wtf is that?

testfactor@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:59 collapse

Just a little squat. More than tall enough for an rj45 to plug in though. I think they look a little tight because it doesn’t have the same amount of bezel as a lot of boxes will have around the ports.

thermal_shock@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 11:16 collapse

RJ45 to be specific. RJ11 is phone

redlemace@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:25 collapse

Forget about your first image/question then … that my friend needs just a regular lan cable. RJ45 at both ends. No telephony involved here

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:27 next collapse

So, two of the yellow ones?

redlemace@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:30 collapse

Absolutely; although the color itself isn’t important. You need RJ45/RJ45 and I’d suggest cat5e or better

like: www.ebay.com/b/…/bn_7112482108

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:36 collapse

Thanks. Turns out I literally had the cable I needed and was just being to silly to plug it in because I didn’t think it was the one. Thanks so much for your help!

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:29 collapse

Thanks, sorry for being a dumbass!

redlemace@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:34 collapse

No need to apologize “no stupid questions” remember ? ;)

gravitywell@sh.itjust.works on 21 Aug 10:20 collapse

There is no way they connected fiber to router with a freaking phone cord.

Either you misunderstood or they lied but what you need is a standard ethernet cable with the same connection on both ends to connect a router to fiber.

Also if someone is professionally installing hardware they shouldn’t be reusing your existing cables anyway.

You have an XY problem. If what you need is to connect your phillips hue hub then just say that instead.

onslaught545@lemmy.zip on 21 Aug 19:35 collapse

You can actually make multiple rj11s from a single Ethernet cable.

dgriffith@aussie.zone on 21 Aug 09:41 next collapse

The smaller end is RJ12, the bigger end is RJ45.

The question is, what are you trying to do with it? RJ12 is/was typically used for telephone connections, RJ45 for Ethernet. Generally speaking, they don’t mix.

If your plan is to connect a computer to a RJ12 socket on the wall, that’s not going to work. If you’ve been told the socket on the wall is “the internet”, you’re likely going to need a modem in between that socket and your computer.

Tagger@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:13 collapse

No, it’s to connect my phillips hue hub to my router

confusedwiseman@lemmy.dbzer0.com on 21 Aug 09:43 next collapse

Looks like you’ve got an rj45 to an rj11 cable. That would be Ethernet on one side and telephone on the other.

redlemace@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 09:49 next collapse

The gray one only seems to have two contacts, so it for phones/modems. The yellow one is more common for networking. For compatibility reasons often used in outlets too. The yellow one is RJ45, the gray one RJ11

So, what you are looking for is an RJ45/RJ11 cable. (cat-3 cable will suffice but higher works too). Alternatively you can use an RJ45/RJ12 (same specs). The difference is RJ12 has 6 wires where RJ11 has only two. Since you have only two in the gray one, both can do the job.

edit: www.ebay.com/itm/222568614235

aeronmelon@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 10:29 next collapse

The cable on the left is commonly known as an Ethernet cable (RJ45) and the cable on the right is commonly known as a telephone cable (RJ11).

But I will echo what people are saying in the comments, you just need a regular Ethernet patch cable (RJ45 on both ends).

BaroqueInMind@piefed.social on 21 Aug 10:54 next collapse

There is no such cable in existence. You need to provide more context

wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world on 21 Aug 11:26 next collapse

FYI ‘phone line’ is known as rj11, ‘ethernet’ is rj45. There’s different types of ethernet cable, most common is ‘cat5e’ that can transfer data up-to 1Gb/sec. Newer cables are usually ‘cat6a’ which adds shielding and up-to 10x the data transfer speed.

So when you go looking for a new one for whatever reason, you have the technical name and don’t have to look at the pictures and hope the listing is actually what you need.

hodgepodgin@lemmy.zip on 21 Aug 14:18 next collapse

8P8C to 6P2C

YodaDaCoda@aussie.zone on 21 Aug 23:06 collapse

That is one weird cable! I’m guessing someone took a regular ethernet cable and replaced the connector on one end so it could be used for ADSL.

Ethernet will still run on it, but only at like 10mbps. Which would be enough for your Phillips hub, but please just toss it and replace it with a proper ethernet cable.