Why does my 360's ethernet cable have 4 wires ?

just a question. I could rant but i would rather not. It is as close as useless as you can get though. the speed drop is noticable. why did i not get what was paid for?

because microsoft buys cheap

I don't believe they're remotely necessary.

it doesn't follow ethernet standards though.

my router came with a 4-wire ethernet cable, and I actually do use it from my modem to the router. and then regular ethernet cables to 360/PC. there isn't a lick of difference if I were to switch them.

or at least, from what I can tell. I might look into the reason why. it hasn't been brought up in my Cisco classes yet...so theories theories....

Do you mean 4 twisted pairs? All Ethernet cables have 4 pairs of wires. Does the plug on the end have 8 connectors? If it does it's a normal Ethernet cable. I'd look at the one that came with my 360, but I don't even now where it is anymore.

I guess the other thing is, if your not happy with the cable, why not just go pick up a new cable. Cat 5e and Cat 6 cables cost like $1 for a 10 foot one.