|
Make Your Own Network Cables Step 1 - Some of the basics OK...so we're going to provide a little background and basics here in Step 1. If you want to just start making cables, you can skip to Step 2 - Preparing the wire. The basics The standard cable used for Ethernet networking is called twisted-pair cables, so-called for the four sets of twisted wires (two in each set) in a standard cable. Each pair is made up of a solid color wire and a white wire with a small line of that same color on it. So, for example, there's a pair with an orange wire and a white wire with an orange stripe. For this how-to article, we'll call this second wire white-orange. Note that with some cables, the solid color wire may have a white stripe and, in other articles, you may see that referred to as orange-white. We don't bother and will use the solid color designation. At each end of a cable is a connector called an RJ45 plug. These look similar to typical ends of a phone cable, also known as RJ11 plugs, but have eight small conductors on them...one for each wire in the cable. Phone cable plugs have only four. Now, just to make things a little complicated, there are two primary standards for wiring an RJ45 plug to the network cable. The difference is in the order of wires in the plug, but other than that the two standards are identical. As long as you use the same standard to wire both ends, your new cable will work just fine for connecting a PC's network adapter to a hub, switch or router. This is called a straight-thru cable and is the "standard" Ethernet networking cable. The two wiring standards are known as 568A and 568B. If you look at a plug from the back (the side opposite the small clip that helps the plug snap into a port), the wire will be arranged as follows in the 568B standard (the one we prefer): This photo shows a properly wired cable using the 568B standard.
In a cable wired with the 568A standard, the order (viewed the same way) would be: The second standard only becomes important when you want to build a cable to connect two computers with network cards and NOT use a hub or switch between them. In this case, you'll want to attach one RJ45 plug using one standard and the other one using the second standard. This creates a cable known as a crossover cable. These cables also can be used to connect two network devices such as hub or switch or router together using the standard ports in the device. However, most devices have a crossover, or uplink, port built in so you don't need to use a crossover cable for this purpose. One last note in this basic overview: we are not suggesting that you run cable through your house and simply put an RJ45 plug on each end. You certainly can do this, but we think a much neater, professional installation includes running cables in your walls to wall jacks at each end. That's what we show you in our how-to article on wiring your house. That said, if you want to use a long cable with RJ45s on each end, keep in mind the maximum length between a PC and a hub or two PCs is 100 meters (about 300 feet) for Ethernet and Fast Ethernet. Also it is not recommended to connect one end of a cable to a wall jack and the other end to a RJ45 plug. The recommendation: run cable through your house from wall jack to wall jack and then run a cable with RJ45 plugs on each end from the wall jack to the network adapter on your PC. Simple. The materials You only need two supplies or materials to make a network cable. The actual cable or wire and the RJ45 plugs. Cable required for Fast Ethernet networking is called category 5 cable. Regular Ethernet can run under earlier cable called category 3, but it is not now nearly as prevalent as it was a few years ago. Many bulk cable retailers now sell an enhanced version of category 5 cable called category 5e. This enhanced version is meant to carry data even faster, but it is not necessary for the new Gigabit Ethernet standard (10x faster than Fast Ethernet). Once you've settled on category 5e cable (as we recommend), you must decide on solid or stranded wires. Most short network cables you buy separately use stranded wire which is more flexible and can be bent easily for connecting to computers and hubs on your desktop. Most cable run through walls has solid wire which makes it stiffer and easier to fish inside walls and through holes. We chose to use bulk solid cable with a PVC cover. You can find it here at Cables to Go. The solid wire cable works for running throughout the house and can also be used for short cables. Stranded wire, on the other hand, is not recommended for connecting to wall jacks and/or patch panels so you'd need both stranded and solid for both uses. As for the RJ45 plugs, you'll want to pick ones that match the type of cable you are using. In our case, we selected plugs for round, solid cable. You can find them here at Cables to Go.. The tools Key to this how-to is a good crimping tool. This is the tool that "crimps" the jack onto the cable. There's probably a way to make your own cables without one, but we're not going to even consider it. As a wise man once told us, if you buy a specialized tool so you can do a project yourself, even if it costs so much you only break even the first time, you'll be ahead the next time you do the project. That almost fits here, but the key is needing to a lot of cables before you break even. Enough said. Get a crimping tool and get a good one. We used the RJ11/RJ45 crimp tool with cable stripper from Cables To Go.
Since this tool has a built-in wire stripper, we didn't need a separate one. If you select a crimp tool without a stripping device, you can look for separate wire strippers such as the excellent Cyclops model.
Of course, any wire stripper will suffice. We do not recommend using a razor blade or scissors or other inappropriate tool because it would not be safe. That's it for background and basics. Again, if you want more background, do check out our links page. With materials and tools in hand, we are ready to begin making our first cable in Step 2 - Preparing the wire.
All content © 1998-2007 by homePCnetwork, inc.
|
Photo courtesy of Cables to Go
Photo courtesy of Cables to Go