Scribd
Upload
171 views

How To Make A Network Cable

1) The steps outline how to make a Category 5e patch cable by stripping the outer jacket, arranging the internal wires in a specific order according to the TIA 568B standard, crimping the wires into RJ-45 connectors, and testing the cable. 2) It is important to carefully strip the outer jacket without cutting the internal wires and to inspect for any cuts or exposed copper. Exposed copper can cause issues. 3) The wires are arranged in a specific order - white/orange, orange, white/green, blue, white/blue, green, white/brown, and brown - for the TIA 568B standard and crimped into the connectors before testing

Uploaded by

maxc84
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
171 views

How To Make A Network Cable

1) The steps outline how to make a Category 5e patch cable by stripping the outer jacket, arranging the internal wires in a specific order according to the TIA 568B standard, crimping the wires into RJ-45 connectors, and testing the cable. 2) It is important to carefully strip the outer jacket without cutting the internal wires and to inspect for any cuts or exposed copper. Exposed copper can cause issues. 3) The wires are arranged in a specific order - white/orange, orange, white/green, blue, white/blue, green, white/brown, and brown - for the TIA 568B standard and crimped into the connectors before testing

Uploaded by

maxc84
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

How to Make a Network Cable

The steps below are general Ethernet Category 5 (commonly known as Cat 5) cable construction
guidelines. For our example, we will be making a Category 5e patch cable, but the same general
method will work for making any category of network cables.

Steps

 Unroll the required length of network cable and add a little extra wire, just in case. If a boot is to be
fitted, do so before stripping away the sleeve and ensure the boot faces the correct way.

Wire Cable Crimping UK


Quality Cable Assembly Termination Crimped Wire QA. Delivered On Time
St-Cross-Electronics.co.uk/Crimping

 2

Carefully remove the outer jacket of the cable. Be careful when stripping the jacket as to not nick or cut
the internal wiring. One good way to do this is to cut lengthwise with snips or a knife along the side of
the cable, away from yourself, about an inch toward the open end. This reduces the risk of nicking the
wires' insulation. Locate the string inside with the wires, or if no string is found, use the wires
themselves to unzip the sheath of the cable by holding the sheath in one hand and pulling sideways with
the string or wire. Cut away the unzipped sheath and cut the twisted pairs about 1 1/4" (30 mm). You
will notice 8 wires twisted in 4 pairs. Each pair will have one wire of a certain color and another wire that
is white with a colored stripe matching its partner (this wire is called a tracer).

 3

Inspect the newly revealed wires for any cuts or scrapes that expose the copper wire inside. If you
have breached the protective sheath of any wire, you will need to cut the entire segment of wires off
and start over at step one. Exposed copper wire will lead to cross-talk, poor performance or no
connectivity at all. It is important that the jacket for all network cables remains intact.

 4

Untwist the pairs so they will lay flat between your fingers. The white piece of thread can be cut off
even with the jacket and disposed (see Warnings). For easier handling, cut the wires so that they are
3/4" (19 mm) long from the base of the jacket and even in length.

 5

Arrange the wires based on the wiring specifications you are following. There are two methods set by
the TIA, 568A and 568B. Which one you use will depend on what is being connected. A straight-through
cable is used to connect two different-layer devices (e.g. a hub and a PC). Two like devices normally
require a cross-over cable. The difference between the two is that a straight-through cable has both
ends wired identically with 568B, while a cross-over cable has one end wired 568A and the other end
wired 568B.[1] For our demonstration in the following steps, we will use 568B, but the instructions can
easily be adapted to 568A.

 568B - Put the wires in the following order, from left to right:

o white orange
o orange
o white green
o blue
o white blue
o green
o white brown
o brown
 568A - from left to right: white/green, green, white/orange, blue, white/blue, orange,
white/brown, brown. You can also use the mnemonic 1-2-3-6/3-6-1-2 to remember which wires
are switched.

 6
Press all the wires flat and parallel between your thumb and forefinger. Verify the colors have
remained in the correct order. Cut the top of the wires even with one another so that they are 1/2"
(12.5 mm) long from the base of the jacket, as the jacket needs to go into the 8P8C connector by about
1/8", meaning that you only have a 1/2" of room for the individual cables. Leaving more than 1/2"
untwisted can jeopardize connectivity and quality. Ensure that the cut leaves the wires even and clean;
failure to do so may cause the wire not to make contact inside the jack and could lead to wrongly guided
cores inside the plug.

 7
Keep the wires flat and in order as you push them into the RJ-45 plug with the flat surface of the plug
on top. The white/orange wire should be on the left if you're looking down at the jack. You can tell if all
the wires made it into the jack and maintain their positions by looking head-on at the plug. You should
be able to see a wire located in each hole, as seen at the bottom right. You may have to use a little effort
to push the pairs firmly into the plug. The cabling jacket should also enter the rear of the jack about 1/4"
(6 mm) to help secure the cable once the plug is crimped. You may need to stretch the sleeve to the
proper length. Verify that the sequence is still correct before crimping.

 8

Place the wired plug into the crimping tool. Give the handle a firm squeeze. You should hear a
ratcheting noise as you continue. Once you have completed the crimp, the handle will reset to the open
position. To ensure all pins are set, some prefer to double-crimp by repeating this step.

 9

Repeat all of the above steps with the other end of the cable. The way you wire the other end (568A or
568B) will depend on whether you're making a straight-through, rollover, or cross-over cable (see Tips).

 10
Test the cable to ensure that it will function in the field. Mis-wired and incomplete network cables
could lead to headaches down the road. In addition, with power-over-Ethernet (PoE) making its way into
the market place, crossed wire pairs could lead to physical damage of computers or phone system
equipment, making it even more crucial that the pairs are in the correct order. A simple cable tester can
quickly verify that information for you. Should you not have a network cable tester on hand, simply test
connectivity pin to pin.

You might also like