A rollover cable is a network cable that connects a computer terminal to a network router’s console port. It is also referred to as a Cisco console cable and is normally flat and light blue so as to distinguish it from other network cable types. The pin-outs on one end of the cable are reversed from the opposite end, which is how the cable derived its name. Rollover cables are also known as Yost cables or Yost Serial Device Wiring Standard connectors.

How to Identify a Rollover Cable

A rollover cable is identified by comparing each end of the cable while they are beside each other. The wire that connects the pin on the outside of the plug on the left-hand side is the same color as the wire connecting the pin on the outside of the plug on the right-hand side. If Cisco Systems produced the rollover cable, the first pin will be white on one of the two connectors and pin number 8 will be white on the other.

Rollover Cables Uses

Rollover cables primarily connect a device to a switch or router’s console port. This permits an engineer or programmer to connect to the network device and manipulate the programming as required. Although many network programming tasks can now be centrally completed, there remains the need for technicians to use rollover cables for network hardware upgrades, maintenance, and troubleshooting.

What is the Cisco RJ45 Rollover Cable Pin-out?

The following is the Cisco RJ45 rollover cable pin-out read in five columns:

Router Pin, Router Pin Name, Direction, Workstation Pin, Workstation Pin Name

1 – white-Orange, bi-directional, 8, brown

2 – orange, bi-directional, 7, white-brown

3 – white-green, bi-directional, 6, green

4 – blue, bi-directional, 5, white-blue

5 – white-blue, bi-directional, 4, blue

6 – green, bi-directional, 3, white-green

7 – white-brown, bi-directional, 2, orange

8 – brown, bi-directional, 1, white-orange