for years and years i've been putting
rj45 plugs onto ethernet cables like
this
with closed plugs where you have to
measure the length or guess like this
and then hope and pray they all align up
fully and properly at the tip and don't
swap places inside without you realizing
until it's too late
and then crimping with one of these
standard tools although i got pretty
good at it i've still lost count over
the years of the number of times i've
had to snip an end off and start again
from scratch
wasting a plug which can't be used again
and making the cable shorter and shorter
with each failure
well now there's a better way using a
slightly different type of rj45 plug and
a different crimping tool
you will need a drum of ethernet cable
probably either cat5e cat6 or possibly
even cat6a
it will depend on your use case but we
won't get into the differences in this
video
rj45 plugs make sure you buy
pass-through plugs sometimes called snap
plugs
and optionally the strain relief boots
which help stop the little clip lever
from snapping off
an rj45 crimping tool it must be one
with a blade for snap plugs
a pair of snips and one of these mini
wire stripper and punch down tools is
useful to own and will also be useful if
you want to wire up any wall sockets as
well
and finally a cable tester this is
essential to verify
the cable and all eight connections are
correct and working before you go to use
it in your network setup
i've left affiliate links in the video
description for all these items
[Music]
so take your wire cutters and cut
however much cable you need for the
cable run you're working on
being sure to leave a generous amount of
excess partly because a few centimeters
will get chopped from either end
and because it's always better to have a
little bit of excess rather than realize
the cables too short
some crimping tools also include a
cutter and a stripper although i tend to
use my own separate wire cutters and
strippers
but it's up to you
if you're going to be putting strain
relief boots on slide one on now before
you proceed to start putting the end on
network cable consists of four twisted
pairs so eight wires in total
cat6 cable usually also has a loose
plastic core running down the center to
reduce crosstalk between those four
twisted pairs
each pair is color coded with one of the
pair being a solid color
and the other is a tribute act to an
american rock duo from detroit
strip off about a three centimeter
length of the outer jacket being careful
not to damage the conductors inside
snip off the plastic crosstalk separator
and the ripcord thread that both run
along
inside the cable then untwist all four
pairs of wires and pinch each wire
tightly between your thumb and
forefinger
and run along like this to straighten
them out as best you can
next it's time to arrange the eight
wires in the correct order so that we
can feed them into the plug
i keep this little printout in my tub of
connectors or you can just google rj45
wiring diagram
there are two main standards t568a and
t568b
the only difference is the greens and
the oranges trade places
the key importance is that the wiring is
the same on both ends of the cable
so if you're just making a length of
cable for yourself at home and
terminating both ends with an rj45 plug
then it really doesn't make any
difference as long as you use the same
both end
i tend to use t568b because it's the
most widely used
so that's orange and white solid orange
green and white solid blue blue and
white
solid green brown and white and solid
brown
if you're adding cable to an existing
setup or replacing a faulty end
then make sure you use whatever standard
is already in use at the location
to make things easier for yourself and
any other engineers who might do work
there after you
so arrange them in the right order and
again run your fingers along to help
straighten them out even more so that
they sit right and in the correct
position
i find it helpful at this point to take
my wire cutters and gently grip the
cables but don't snip them just yet
and to bunch the ends right up to each
other and double check the colours are
still in the correct order
then holding the base of the wires
firmly with your thumb snip a short
length from the end
so that we have a really neat tight
bunch at the end
next take an end plug these pass-through
ones unlike the one i showed you at the
start of the video have
open ends which means you can poke the
strands right through allowing you to
double check the order is definitely
correct before you commit
and crimp the plug on and it also
guarantees that they all line up
correctly and right to the very tip
for a perfectly formed cable every time
[Music]
so once you've got a short length from
the end carefully slide the arranged
wires into the plug and allow them to
pass through it hence the name keeping
going until the outer jacket
which is white in this case is fully
inside as far as it will go
then examine the eight wires and check
again that all eight are still in the
correct order
if you accidentally loosened your grip
too soon whilst putting the end on and
any cables got in the wrong order for
example you can of course just slide it
off
correct and reinsert without having to
start again waste a plug
and make the cable a bit shorter again
once you're happy with the end insert
into the crimping tool and squeeze it
closed tightly
this will do two things not only will it
crimp the plug holding the entire cable
in place and splicing all eight contacts
into the eight wires
but the sharp blade on the rear will
also trim all the excess off resulting
in a perfect neat job every time
you can then slide the strain relief
boot up and over the clip and that's the
first end done
repeat exactly the same process with the
same wiring order for the other end
and then be sure to test the cable with
a cable tester like this
this checks all eight wires individually
it will tell you that the eight
connections are good on both ends
and also that it's wired up correctly on
both ends in the right order or at least
in the same order both ends
it does this by sending a pulse down
each wire in turn from the master to the
remote
you should see the sequence going from
one to eight on both ends and when it
does you know the cable is working
perfectly
if you get a sequence like this then you
know you've made a mistake somewhere
if it's a long cable run and both cat5e
and cat6 cable are good for 100 meters
then you can separate the master and
remote parts of the cable tester and put
one at each end of the cable run to test
it