Portfolio Entry #2

Addison Baker
Information Technology

In this project, I was assigned to remake

the wires that connected my PC and the patch panel shown above. To start, I had to use a spool
of Cat5 Ethernet wiring to estimate the length of the wire I would be needing by leading the wire
from my PC to the patch panel. Once a length was established and a wire was cut, it was time to
set up the Ethernet heads on one side of the wire. The head can be made in either the Type A or
Type B format, and it allows the wire to be plugged into any wired Ethernet port. The process of
putting the head on the wire was probably the hardest part of this project, as it was time-
consuming and meticulous. First, the wire had to be stripped down enough so the eight inner
copper wires were hanging free. Then, I organized the eight inner wires in the Type B format
(white/orange, orange, white/green, blue, white/blue, green, white/brown, brown), and slid the
wires into the plastic Ethernet head piece. Once they slid in completely, I used a crimper to crimp
the head to the wire, officially sealing the two together. Once I completed the head end of the
wire, I moved to the patch panel end of the wire. The patch panel end is organized in the same
manner as using an Ethernet head, except it simply excludes the head. The eight copper wires are
organized in the Type B format, and punched down onto a plastic patch panel where they rest as
if they were plugged into it (as shown in the image above). Lastly, I used a cable tester on the
Ethernet head and on the patch panel port to confirm that the wire I created was in fact running
successfully.

Technical Competencies:
- 2.J.01.05: I installed and terminated network cabling.
- 2.J.01.03: I compared the speed and transmission limitations of various network cables.
- 2.M.10: I troubleshot common physical connectivity problems to begin with by removing the
old cables and installing new ones.

Academic Competencies:
-7.EE.3: I evaluated the speed and bandwidth of the wire and how that would affect my
computers internet network performance.
-9-12.S.IC.6: I evaluated the report that the wire worked correctly based on the data the cable
tester received of signals traveling through the wire.