The 5-in-1 network admin's cable

[Swad]

http://www.ossmann.com/5-in-1.html

 

There is nothing worse than showing up for an on-site visit without the correct cable you need for a job. So what is a network admin to do, carry around several bulky cables everywhere?

 

For quite some time I've been carrying a single CAT5 ethernet cable in my laptop bag along with "the world's shortest crossover cable" and an RJ45 coupler. This allows me to turn my ethernet cable into a crossover cable and eliminates the need to carry around a second lengthy cable. Handy, but nothing to write home about. More recently I have been working with a lot of network devices with serial console ports, including Cisco routers and various other things. This means lugging around a null modem cable in addition to the non-standard RJ-45 to DB-9 console cable required by most Cisco equipment.

 

But after putting together four simple custom adapters, I now have an ethernet cable, a crossover ethernet cable, a modem cable, a null modem cable, and a Cisco console cable all by carrying around just one standard ethernet cable. An added benefit is that I can always extend my cable by finding a longer ethernet cable than the one I carry in my bag. It is usually pretty easy to locate a long ethernet cable but not so easy to locate a long null modem cable.

 

Do you find yourself toting several of these cables everywhere you go? Do you often wish you had brought a different cable with you after you have arrived on-site? Are you as geeky as me and think that this is just plain cool even if you never expect to configure a router in your lifetime? Then you need the 5-in-1 network admin's cable!

[John the Geek]

http://www.ossmann.com/5-in-1.html

 

There is nothing worse than showing up for an on-site visit without the correct cable you need for a job. So what is a network admin to do, carry around several bulky cables everywhere?

 

For quite some time I've been carrying a single CAT5 ethernet cable in my laptop bag along with "the world's shortest crossover cable" and an RJ45 coupler. This allows me to turn my ethernet cable into a crossover cable and eliminates the need to carry around a second lengthy cable. Handy, but nothing to write home about. More recently I have been working with a lot of network devices with serial console ports, including Cisco routers and various other things. This means lugging around a null modem cable in addition to the non-standard RJ-45 to DB-9 console cable required by most Cisco equipment.

 

But after putting together four simple custom adapters, I now have an ethernet cable, a crossover ethernet cable, a modem cable, a null modem cable, and a Cisco console cable all by carrying around just one standard ethernet cable. An added benefit is that I can always extend my cable by finding a longer ethernet cable than the one I carry in my bag. It is usually pretty easy to locate a long ethernet cable but not so easy to locate a long null modem cable.

 

Do you find yourself toting several of these cables everywhere you go? Do you often wish you had brought a different cable with you after you have arrived on-site? Are you as geeky as me and think that this is just plain cool even if you never expect to configure a router in your lifetime? Then you need the 5-in-1 network admin's cable!

 

That is the freakin bomb. The smallest crossover cable. I just built one!!! (can't find my coupler though... I think it's in my office.)

 

=)

[Rockett]

That's a really sweet idea. Don't know how many times ive gone hunting in totes in our server room for a crossover cable