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> I really, really like RS-232. It just works. Hmmh, I rather have a love/hate relationship with it. It depends on context, I suppose. In an earlier era, Uni

> I really, really like RS-232. It just works. Hmmh, I rather have a love/hate relationship with it. It depends on context, I suppose. In an earlier era, Unix servers (and non-Unix Minis before that) and other equipment (some network routers and switches to this day) offered their system console via RS232. 9600baud 8n1 was common, but not universal. The developers in charge of our enterprise file server were impatient and hard coded the console to 115200baud (because that was the maximum speed PCs generally supported at that time), which not all "console servers" were able to cope with ... Then was the question, how is it wired? DTE or DCE, i.e. do I need a null-cable? Flow control? And if it's not a DB9 or DB25 connector, but a RJ11 all bets are off and you need to find the manufacturer's cable.

tonyarkles 4y ago
> but a RJ11 all bets are off and you need to find the manufacturer's cable. Here’s looking at you, Cisco, for using an RJ45 serial connector on devices covered in RJ45 Ethernet jacks.
- alerighi 4y ago
  Well that thing make sense. For example you can wire the console port as one port in a patch panel for ease of access. For example in my current office we did this for the console port of access points on the ceiling, this will save you taking a ladder if you need to change the configuration (and while doing so the access point doesn't have a valid IP) or if something goes wrong.
Scoundreller 4y ago
I ran a hundred feet or so of RS232 over RJ11 (dollar-store grade). Did it for a year or two without issues. It was -12v and +12v in one direction, but just 0V and +5V the other way. Just needed RX, TX and GND for our purposes. Ran at 115k2 too.