Contrary to popular belief, to build a network cable is not complicated and advanced networking knowledge is not required.
Today, we’ll explain to you how it is done: from the tools and materials you need to tips so that they fail as little as possible.
In this case, we have chosen to make a direct cable, ideal for connecting a PC to a switch or router, although the process would be similar to making a crossover cable.
What are the Basic Tools Used in Creating a Network Cable?
From now on, you’ll know how to build yourself Ethernet network cables with the correct types of wires and connectors.
The tools and materials needed to assemble a network cable are as follows:
- 1x Network Cable
- 1x crimper
- 1x Scissors
- 2x RJ-45 connectors
Perhaps the most difficult thing to get is the crimper, which is the tool that you will fix the RJ-45 plug to the cable.
They can be found for sale online for about 15 USD, although if you are not going to make cables frequently and want to save money, it is best to ask a friend if they have one.
There are crimpers that, in addition to allowing “crimping” RJ-45, can also be used for RJ-11 (telephone cable). If you are not going to use this last type of cable, it is best to buy a simple one because they are cheaper.
How do you Wire a Network Cable?
Once we have gathered all the necessary materials and tools, we can move on to the actual procedure to start building our own network cables.
To achieve the goal of building our own network cables, we will reduce the instructions to only the two most common types of cables, the crossed network cable, and the straight network cable, which will make things much easier for us when understanding the instructions.
What is the first step in making network cables?
- Carefully peel the cable – Remove the cover to allow us to see the wires inside.
Approximately 3 cm. should be enough.
Scissors will help you with it and it should be noted that at this point you must be careful not to hurt yourself and not damage the internal conductors of the cable.
- Separate and stretch the cables – At this point, you can notice that the conductors of a network cable are twisted in pairs.
Unraveled and stretched, trying to avoid curves and angles.
In other words, the straighter the conductors are, the easier it will be to carry out the procedure.
- Order the cables – Decide if you want a Straight, Direct, or Patch Cord network cable or a Crossed, Inverted, or Crossover cable.
- Cut them and carefully insert them into the RJ-45 plug – To do this without problems, you must cut off any excess cable.
Ideally, there should only be about 1.5 cm left. from the edge of the cable sheath. It is also important to mention that all the internal conductors of the network cable have the same length to avoid complications when inserting them into the RJ45 connector.
Then, you take the RJ45 connector and place the pairs in such a way that Pin 1, that is, the orange one, is on the left looking at the connector with the safety tab facing down.
If the order is correct, then introduce the conductive wires inside the RJ45 connector.
It should be noted that to prevent the network cable from being loose once it is finished, the best thing you can do is leave a piece of its coverage inside the connector. With this, make sure that the connector is well fixed.
- Fix with the Crimper – It should be noted that you shouldn’t force the tool at any time, but neither do apply too little pressure since on the one hand the RJ45 connector could be damaged and on the other, it could be loose and ruin all the work done.
For more details, the job of crimping the RJ45 connector will be finished when you hear a “click”.
- Repeat with the other end and check – In the event that it does not work, it is possible that you’ve made a mistake with the order of the cables or that the terminals do not make good contact with the conductor wires.
In this situation, it is best to cut and start over from the beginning.
Do you find it very laborious?
As they say, practice makes perfect… And in that case, LayerLogix experts are capable of doing this procedure with great speed, and therefore, at a very good price.