There is a special type of Category 5, or Cat 5, cable that can be used to connect two computers without the use of a router or switch. These cables are known as crossover cables and they have ...

say I connect two Macs that support gigabit ethernet. can I use a plain-old crossover cable (cat5) and get "gigabit" speeds? or is there a special gigabit version of cat5? I'm confused. this is a ...

What is a crossover cable used for? The fastest way to connect PCs together, to a router or central switch, is through Ethernet cabling, a standard that’s been in networking installation for years.