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Difference Between Garmin® Marine Network Cables and Standard Ethernet Cables

Garmin® Marine Network cables are constructed very differently from standard Ethernet cables. A summary of the differences are provided below:


Garmin Marine Network cable:

  • External ground

  • Crossover wiring

  • Shielded cable

  • IPX7 Water resistant

  • Built in Drain Wire

  • The Garmin Marine Network cable uses the same Tx/Rx pairs for data transmission and also utilizes the unused pins (4, 5, 7 & 8) for power control of the various devices on the network

  • BI_DA+ : Transmit Positive BI_DB+ : Receive Positive

  • BI_DA- :Transmit Negative BI_DB- : Receive Negative


Standard Ethernet cable:

  • Internal ground

  • Parallel wiring

  • No shielding

  • Non-water resistant

  • Crossover cables allow similar devices to speak to one another. (Garmin units)

  • Also to link multiple GMS 10’s to create a wider network

  • A Standard Ethernet cable uses pins 1, 2, 3 & 6 for network data, using one pair for Tx and the other for Rx as shown in the diagrams above. The remaining pins are unused


Even though a Standard Ethernet cable can be used on the GPSMAP® 4000 series and newer we only recommend using Garmin Marine Network cables.