How to Make Your Own Ethernet Cables?

Ethernet patch cables are indispensable for network. However, Ethernet patch cables are more expensive than bulk cables and the pre-terminated lengths are not always that you need. So it’s quite necessary to know how to wire Ethernet cable by yourself. This article will show you detailed steps of making your own Ethernet patch cable.

Materials You Need

Bulk Ethernet cable

Usually people will choose Cat5e cable. Cat5e cable is a little different from Cat5. It can handle data rate up to 1000Mbps. Cat5e is suitable for Gigabit Ethernet and experiences much lower levels of near-end crosstalk (NEXT) than Cat5. So in most applications, Cat5 has been superseded by Cat5e. Except Cat5e, you may also choose Cat6 cables which have better performance. Cat6 cable has twice the bandwidth of Cat5. It’s ideal for supporting 10 Gigabit Ethernet. Select the cable type and then buy the lengths of the cable you need.

RJ45 Connectors for Cat5e or for Cat6

RJ45 connectors are often used for telephone and network. RJ45 connectors include a variety of types for Cat 5e or Cat6, such as shielded, strain relief boots, 2 prong or 3 prong, etc. Whatever, you need to select the one suitable for your application. FS.COM provides plenty of RJ45 connectors meeting a high standard of safety quality.

RJ-45 Crimping Tool

RJ45 crimping tool is designed to quickly, strip, crimp and cut the wires in an easy operation. FS.COM supplies various types of high quality crimping tools. With this kind of tool, you can get precise and reliable terminations every time.

Steps for Wiring Ethernet Cable

Step 1. Strip Outer Sheath

Use your stripper on your crimping tool to strip 1 inch (2.5 cm) sheath from the end of the cable. Insert the cable into the stripper portion of the crimping tool and squeeze it tight. When squeezed, rotate the crimping tool around the cable a full 360°. At last, pull away and the sheath will be stripped. If you break the internal twisted wires by accident, just cut the broken wire and strip again. So when you measure the cable length, you should better leave spare inches in case things happen like this.

Step 2. Untwist and Arrange Wire

After stripping the sheath, you can find 8 color-coded wires inside. Then you need to untwist the internal wires and arrange them into a proper wiring scheme for RJ45 connector. There are two kinds of color codes standards: T568A and T568B. The color order is important to get correct. No matter which standards you choose, you should arrange the color-coded wires in the same order on both sides. Here recommend you T568B color-coded wiring. The following are about pins and colors used in T568B standards.

Pin1—White/Orange
Pin2—Orange
Pin3—White/Green
Pin4—Blue.
Pin5—White/Blue
Pin6—Green.
Pin7—White/Brown
Pin8—Brown

Step 3. Insert the wire into RJ45 connector

Before insert the wire into RJ45 connector, you need to cut down the wire to fit in the connector. Bring the wires together and cut them down in an even line with the cutting tool on the crimping tool. Then insert the wires into the connector in the right order. Ensure each wire fits into each groove in the connector. The wires should be inserted until the sheathing is inside the connector, just beyond the crimp portion of the connector.

Step 4. Crimp

Put the connector into the crimping tool carefully until the connector can’t go in any further. Squeeze the crimping tool very tightly and release. Then squeeze the the crimping tool again to make sure that all of the pins are pushed down on the connector. When finishing crimping, check that if all pins are all crimped down. If the pins are all down, tug the connector slightly to make sure that it is securely attached to the wire.

Step 5. Test

Before installing the cable, you should better take a test with an Ethernet cable tester. If the Ethernet cable doesn't work, look closely at each end and see if you can find the problem. Usually the problem is caused because a wire ends up in the wrong place or one of the wires makes no contact or poor contact. You should also check if the color is in the right order. If the color order is wrong, then cut the end off and start again.

Summary

Sure, you can buy Ethernet cables from the store directly. But if you need to make your own cable with special lengths, then you are lucky to read this article. Remember that the Ethernet cable should be no more than 100 meters or 328 feet. Because the cable performance will be influenced by the over length. For bulk cables, RJ45 connectors, crimping tools, and network testers, etc., you can get all from FS.COM. Hope you can make your own Ethernet cable successfully.

Originally published at www.fiber-optic-equipment.com