Let's be honest, how many people have actually heard of the word RJ45? Unless you are a techie person, not one of us would know what this is and yet we use or are in contact with one of these things almost every day. The RJ is simply an acronym for registered jack, which is a device namely used for connecting telecommunication equipment. The ends of these cables are what people are more likely to be recognised, because they look exactly like a telephone connecting line.

The RJ45 is the more commonly used device used for connecting equipment together; however there are other configurations that are also equally as useful such as the RJ11 and RJ14. These connections are mainly used in the US, whereas the RJ45 is used more in the UK. There is much confusion over the naming of the connectors, because of the way they work and how they look. This connector in particular is often referred to as the 8 position 8 contacts plugs even they are not the same things.

An 8 position 8 contacts plug may not have the same jack as the Rj45, but it is simply a plug with eight positions with six positions containing six conductors. The 8P8C is commonly used for terminated twisted pair cables. The difference is that the connection people make for their equipment to communicate is that this makes quality connections that do not leave any room for mistakes and wrong connectivity. The extra connectors that do not contain conductors are mainly to leave room for further developments in the future.

Normally RJ45 are used for standard Ethernet computer connection, which is basically a way for them to communicate with each other. There two different types of Rj45 cables, the cat.4 and cat.6 wire that allows for a different number of internal cables to be connected to an application. The cat. 4 connections connect 4 internal wires, whereas the cat.6 connects up to 6 internal wires. The cat.6 wires can share and transfer data using their 6 wires, however typically only 4 wires are used. The extra two wires are created by the manufactures as they are pre-empting the development of technology, of the possibility for a faster data transfer connection. Therefore, the two extra cables will provide the extra capacity for this development to take place.

Most cables, such as the RJ45, have become more efficient in transferring and sharing data. By compressing the data into the smallest space, helps to push through more information and doing this quickly. Businesses and large companies rely on these kinds of technology to work efficiently and maintain good communication between each machine.