Crimping HOWTO

This HOWTO explains the crimping process-- how to make an ethernet cable.

What you need: RJ-45 jacks and a wire cutter and a crimper.
1. If you're making a new cable: Get a length of ethernet cable, about 5 inches more than you need.
2. If you're trying to fix a cable: First, make sure that the cable is broken... test it. Check to see which end of the cable
could be bad. You may have to recrimp both. Cut off the appropriate end(s) with the wire cutter.
3. Cut the outer (gray?) sheath away, about .75 inch, exposing the 8 smaller wires inside.
4. Line up the eight wires in this order: (starting from the left, with the catch/clicky-thingy facing down) white-orange,
orange, white-green, blue, white-blue, green, white-brown, brown. Straighten them out the best you can. For a regular
cable, the two ends will be identical.
For a crossover cable, one end will be the above sequence, and the other end will be: (from the left, with clicky/catch
thing facing down) white-green, green, white-orange, blue, white-blue, orange, white-brown, brown. Refer to the picture
below.
5. Cut the 8 wires' ends so that the ends line up. (The length of exposed wires should be about .5 inch.)
6. Now insert the wires into the jack, with the catch/clicky thingy facing down. Make sure that each wire goes into its own
position (corridor). The white-orange should be on your leftmost, and the brown is on your right.
7. Put the jack and wire into the crimper (there's only one way it goes in).
8. Crimp! Squeeze firmly on the crimper-- you're pushing the gold pins of the jack into the wires. Release.
9. Pull the wire out. Now repeat steps 3-8 with other end of the cable.
10. Test the cable. Swear. Recrimp.
11. Lather and rinse. Repeat as necessary.

Last modified: Thu Jun 17 17:18:32 PDT 1999