Glossary

Note: these aren't the definitions you'd find in a book. If that's what you want, then go look in a book. These are they way I would explain the terms to someone. I'd appreciate it if you'd let me know of anything that's misleading or just plain wrong, but I'm not trying to be too strict. Life is tough enough. Sometimes, I may show some sarcasm, though.

EIA/TIA568

This is the color-code connection standard for an RJ-45 (8 conductor) connector. There are two wiring standards: 568A and 568B. They are both EIA/TIA standards, whatever that is. They differ only in that two pairs of colors are swapped. The 568B is an older standard defined by AT&T; new installations are supposed to use 568A. The really important thing is that everything be consistent or you'll get yourself confused. Note that the difference is only in what color is used for what pin, not what signal is on what pin, so in a patch cable with both ends pre-wired, it doesn't matter. The details are here.

Patch Panel

A patch panel is a thingie you use to connect all your wires up to the right thing. They are really expensive ($45-110), but I wouldn't try this without one. You can get RJ-11 patch panels for phone stuff, RJ-45 patch panels for the Ethernet stuff, and T-66 patch panels which are also for phone, but don't have any RJ-11 sockets on them.

RJ-45

This is the 8-conductor version of an RJ-11. It looks like a regular modular phone connector, only it's wider. You need to use RJ-45 with your Ethernet, because the connection standard puts the Ethernet on some of the outer connectors. RJ-11 plugs will fit into an RJ-45 socket. It's really tough to get all the wires in an RJ-45 plug in the right order (if you're trying to make your own plug). Fortunately you can buy patch cords with the plugs already wired on. You can also get plugs and sockets with a little tab on the side that keeps people from plugging tabbed plugs into a non-tabbed socket. Seemed excessive for a home application.