What is the difference between a patch cable and a Cat 5 cable?

What is the difference between a patch cable and a Cat 5 cable?

Ian Urquhart (Lead Developer, E-Haus, LLC.) gives expert video advice on: What is the difference between "Firewire" and "USB"?; What is a "Personal Computer Memory Card Interface Association" (PCMCIA) slot?; What is an "ethernet" cable? and more...

A patch cable and a Cat 5 cable look almost identical. A Cat 5 cable is a standard Ethernet cable that goes from your computer into your modem or router. A patch cable is for when you want to run information from one router to another router, and you need an upload cable, which is what a patch cable is sometimes referred to as. The only physical difference between a Cat 5 cable and a patch cable are the two wires at the end that are switched around. If you look closely at the end and put them side-by-side, you'll see the difference.