Ethernet cables- colour of inner pairs

[rsmyth]

I'm looking into buying a large volume of ethernet cables, but it's not for traditional use- I'm going to be stripping it and using the inner pairs.

I've noticed that the inner pairs come in different colours and sometimes different tones- some seem to be paler than others. Is there a reason for this? A coating or something? I'd like to know so that I can buy all of the paler tone...

Let me know if you have any insight to this strange question!

 

[train_wreck]

yes - they are all colored specifically in order for you to better tell which wire should go into which notch on the head, when making your own cable ends. See here http://www.joncamfield.com/oss/schooltools/Reference/EthernetCabling_files/ethcable568a.gif
AFAIK they are all colored this way, i've never heard of any that weren't. You could always paint the wires I would assume.

 

[Recycled]

90% of the cables I see are color coded according to T-568B, not A.

Wikipedia has more details.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIA/EIA-568

As long as all wires go straight through (i.e., both ends are the same) it really does not matter how the wires look. They still work.

--Andy