Conflicted on MDI and MDI-X

madboy

Sorry, those ports made complete sense to me until i started reading different test exams and books and had one or two conflicting responses..

So is the final answer on MDI-X is that it uses a straight through cable because the port are crossed?

And does MDI use crossover cable because the ports aren't crossed??

This is always how i thought it was.

Thanks for your time.

Judd

MDI-X are ports that are crossed internally; therefore, you use a straight-through cable to connect dissimilar devices to these ports. These are "normal" hub, switch ports.

MDI are straight ports; therefore, you need a crossover cable to connect similar devices to these ports. These are ports designated for hub-to-hub, switch-to-switch connections. However these ports are not as common as they once were, most devices are now AUTO-MDIX.

Remember for the test that the X stands for crossed, which means straight-through cable.