Saint Louis University

School of Accountancy, Management. Computing and

Information Studies
1st Semester SY 2021 – 2022

Objectives
1. To become familiar with the
different types of cables.
2. To become familiar with networking
devices such as a crimper, a cable tester, and
a network hub

Part I. Cabling

Choosing the cables necessary to make a successful LAN or WAN

connection requires consideration of the different media types. Many
different Physical layer implementations support multiple media types.

Types of RJ-45 cabling

UTP cabling connections are specified by the Electronics Industry

Alliance/Telecommunications Industry Association (EIA/TIA).

Networking products use these types of RJ-45 cables:

Straight-through
Crossover
Rolled

The RJ-45 connector is the male component crimped on the end of the
cable. When viewed from the front, the pins are numbered from 8 to 1.
When viewed from above with the opening gate facing you, the pins are
numbered 1 through 8, from left to right. This orientation is important
to remember when identifying a cable.

Figure 1. RJ-45 T568A & T 568B

Termination

How to identify an RJ-45 cable

To identify the RJ-45 cable type, hold the two ends of the cable next
to one another so you can see the colored wires inside, as shown in
figure 1.
There are three (3) types of commonly used RJ-45 cabling: straight,
cross, and rolled. Hold the two ends of an RJ-45 cable side-by-side.

Page 1 of 4 My Virtual Learning Laboratory Activity No.1

There are eight colored pins at each end. They differ from one another
as to how the component wires of the cable are inserted into the pins
of the adapters at the two ends of the cable

Straight-through Cable
Straight-Through refers to cables that have the pin assignments on each
end of the cable. In other words Pin 1 connector A goes to Pin 1 on
connector B, Pin 2 to Pin 2, etc. Straight-Through wired cables are
most commonly used to connect a host to the client. See figure 2.

In a straight-through cable, the colored wires are in the same sequence

at both ends of the cable.

Figure 2. Straight-Through Cable

Crossover Cable
Crossover wired cables (commonly called crossover cables) are very much
like Straight-Through cables with the exception that TX and RX lines
are crossed (they are at opposite positions on either end of the cable.
See figure 3.

In a crossover cable, the first (far left) colored wire at one end of
the cable is the third colored wire at the other end of the cable.

Figure 3. Crossover Cable

Rolled Cable
Rollover wired cables most commonly called rollover cables, have
opposite Pin assignments on each end of the cable, or in other words it
is "rolled over". Pin 1 of connector A would be connected to Pin 8 of
connector B. Pin 2 of connector A would be connected to Pin 7 of
connector B and so on. Rollover cables, sometimes referred to as Yost
cables are most commonly used to connect to a device's console port to
make programming changes to the device. Unlike crossover and straight-
wired cables, rollover cables are not intended to carry data but
instead create an interface with the device. See figure 4.

Page 2 of 4 My Virtual Learning Laboratory Activity No.1

 Figure 4. Rolled Cable

Part II. How to prepare a UTP cable

Things you'll need:

• RJ-45 Crimp Tool
• Cat-5e/6/7 Cable
• RJ-45 Jacks

Step 1 - Prepare your workspace. Take the roll of UTP cable and cut
the cable to length using the cutting blade on the crimp tool.
Step 2 - Splice the end by using the splicing blades to expose the
unshielded twisted pairs.
Step 3 - Take each twisted pair and make four wire strands, each
going out from the center of the wire. You do not want the wires to
become untwisted down inside the jacket. Keep in mind that Category 5
cable must only have 1/2 of an inch of 'untwisted' wire at the end;
otherwise, it will be 'out of spec'.
Step 4 - Now take the individual twisted wire pairs and untwist them
down to individual wires. Be careful not to make the wires become
untwisted down inside the jacket. Keep in mind that Category 5 cable
must only have 1/2 of an inch of 'untwisted' wire at the end;
otherwise, it will be 'out of spec'.
Step 5 - Next, grasp the wires with your thumb and index finger of
your non-dominant hand. Take each wire and snug them securely side by
side.
Step 6 - Using the cutting blade of the crimp tool, cut the ends of
the wires to make each wire the same height.
Step 7 - Still grasping the wires, insert the RJ-45 jack on the wires
with the clip facing away from you.
Step 8 - Insert the jack into the crimper and press down tightly on
the tool to seal the wires in place
Step 9 - Once the first head is made, repeat steps two through eight.
When untwisting the wires down to single strands, use the following
order: Striped Green, Green, Striped Orange, Blue, Striped Blue,
Orange, Striped Brown, and Brown.
Step 10 - Plug in the cable to test connectivity.
Activity.
1. When is a straight-through cable used?
2.
Straight through cable is in the name, according to what is taught in this
lecture. It's connected to pin 1 B through pin 1 A. This means that it can be used
to send data from a computer to other network devices like printers.
3. When is a crossover cable used?

This is based on the name's implication. This is a straight cable that goes in the
opposite direction as the straight cable, but it can be crossed-through.

4. What advantages do we get from crossover cabling? (List at least

two)
 The standard port on both switches/hubs can be used to link two
switches/hubs.
 Router to router

Page 3 of 4 My Virtual Learning Laboratory Activity No.1

5. What are the disadvantages of straight-through cable? (List at least
two)
 This is expensive one.
 This type of cable requires a lot of cables when dealing with two
computers.

Page 4 of 4 My Virtual Learning Laboratory Activity No.1