Making ethernet

cables!

 
 Purchasing Ethernet cables can be quite expensive
and pre-made lengths are not always the length you
need. 
 Making Ethernet cables is easy with a box of bulk
Category 5e Ethernet cable and RJ-45 connectors that
are attached to the cut ends of your preferred cable
length.
Materials

2 kinds of ethernet cable

 Straight through
 Crossover
 Straight through

 the standard cable used for almost all purposes, and
are often called "patch cables".
 Crossover

 The purpose of a Crossover Ethernet cable is to
directly connect one computer to another computer
(or device) without going through a router, switch or
hub.
 
8
7
6 5
4

2 1
3
 
T568A standard (Straight through)
Pin 1 White/green
Pin 2 Green
Pin 3 White/orange
Pin 4 Blue
Pin 5 White/blue
Pin 6 Orange
Pin 7 White/brown
Pin 8 Brown
 
T568B standard (Crossover)
Pin 1 White/orange
Pin 2 Orange
Pin 3 White/green
Pin 4 Blue
Pin 5 White/blue
Pin 6 Green
Pin 7 White/brown
Pin 8 Brown
 1 step!
st


 Strip the cable jacket about 1.5 inch down from the
end.
 2 step!
nd


 Spread the four pairs of twisted wire apart. For Cat
5e, you can use the pull string to strip the jacket
farther down if you need to, then cut the pull string.
Cat 6 cables have a spine that will also need to be cut.

 3 step!
rd


 Untwist the wire pairs and neatly align them in the
T568B orientation. Be sure not to untwist them any
farther down the cable than where the jacket begins;
we want to leave as much of the cable twisted as
possible.

 4 step!
th


 Cut the wires as straight as possible, about 0.5 inch
above the end of the jacket.
 5 step
th


 Carefully insert the wires all the way into the
modular connector (RJ45), making sure that each
wire passes through the appropriate guides inside
the connector.

 6 step!
th


 Push the connector inside the crimping tool and
squeeze the crimper all the way down.

 7 step!
th


 Repeat steps 1-6 for the other end of the cable.
 8 step!
th


 To make sure you've successfully terminated each
end of the cable, use a cable tester to test each pin.
 
 For crossover cables, simply make one end of the
cable a T568A and the other end a T568B. Now you
can make Ethernet cables of any length, fix broken
connectors, or make yourself a crossover cable.