ufcrusher

I was wondering if anyone could please help me with the problem I am having. I finally went out and bought the crimper that Circuit City sold for $20. So I am following the directions on the back which are:

1. Cut the modular cable to the desired length. Make certain that the ends are cut squarely, not diagonally.

2. Insert the cable between the stripper blades until it touches the stop. Squeeze the handles and pull the toll so that the cable stays perpendicular to it. If done correctly, the outer insulation of the cable will be removed without damaging the insulation on the inner conductors.

3. Place a modular plug in the holder so that the front of the plug is against the stop and the gold contacts face the crimper. Insert the prepared cable into the plug. Make certain that the inner conductors are flush with the tip of the connector and directly under the gold contacts. Squeeze the handles firmly to set contacts and secure the cable.


The first problem was that the cable wouldnt even fit into the stripper area! I tried to stretch the crimper wider but it wouldnt go any wider. So I finally wriggled it in, by stripping parts before I went in to measure it. (Just for this reason the crimper is going back)

So the first time I crimped it, the plug actually came off after it was crimped. I figured I hadnt done it tight enough, re crimped it and it fell off again. I grab a new plug carefully pushed the wires to the end and then crimped it. Nice and snug, the way it should be. Then I go to do the other side the exact same way. Once again it went on nice and snug.

At this point I thought I was golden...I go to test it by attaching it to my router and my laptop (for convenience). The computer shows that the network cable is not attached.

Now I have no clue what went wrong. Can someone please tell me what I did wrong. Am I supposed to make sure that when the wire is pushed in that they match each other. By this I mean color strand to color strand. With phone wires they are all flat and automatically go into the same place....with these twisted pairs it doesnt appear to be doing the same thing. I am assuming that this is the problem. I am going to have to go out and buy more plugs since I only have a pair left. (The small pack I bought had 5)

Also is there any way to check it before crimping to make sure you dont waste the end caps?

TIA

Ufcrusher

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TERRIBLETOM

I'm not sure what is going on with the pliers but if it is not working correctly return it. On the cable I believe that the wires are to be places in reverse order of each other per cable. If that still doesnt work you may have a bad crimp.

Tommy Boomfiger

not sure if i understand what you are saying, but all the wires should be in the same order on both ends of the cable on a regular cable.

ufcrusher

Alright I am not sure if I understand what you are saying. The Cat-5e cable is from Radio shack, from the $0.05/ft deal. Since Cat-5 cable is twisted strands you have the following combos Green/Green-white, Orange/Orange-White, Blue/Blue-white, and Brown/Brown-white.

Now when I look at the plug, it appears as though some of the strands have actually gone astray. For example rather than having the Brown next to the brown white the blue is there and then the brown white then finally the blue white. That is an actual example of how it looks to me. (The other side almost appears normal)

If I understand you correctly each cable must be kept in exactly the same order? I really need to get these cables up and going as I have the computers all set up but not connected to the router.

Tommy Boomfiger

not only do the wires have to be in the same order, but they should be in a certain order. with the side of the clip away from you, the wire order should be

• green stripe
• green
• orange stripe
• blue
• blue stripe
• orange
• brown stripe
• brown

both ends need to be like this. if it isnt like this then it wont work at all.

Tommy Boomfiger

also make sure that all the wires are all the way in and the insulation for each indiviual wire goes all the way as well.

the insulation for the cat5 cable should be inside the rj45 connector and pinched enough to hold it in place.

ufcrusher

Thanks a lot! I wish that the directions actually told you something like that.

eSDee

I use a different order than Tommy B, but it's all the same as long as those middle pairs are ordered the same way. One thing is that if you can get away with not using a wire stripper, if you use a wirecutter or even a small pair of scissors. I like it this way better because I can cut a little nick, then use the string coupled with the wire to pull it back to the exact length. I do know that not all cat 5/6 cable has this string, but I still like to do it that way even if they don't. That way I can get exact distance from the end of the wires.

Good luck man.

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johnnymk

That's weird, because I made mine in a different sequence and it worked. (I used another CAT5 cable/connector for my DSL network as a guide): The cable was also from Radio Shack.

Orange stripe
Orange
Blue stripe
Blue
Green stripe
Green
Brown stripe
Brown

After thinking about the sequence, I guess it doesn't really matter what color goes where, as long as the wires at both ends of the cable look identical. Right?

Jeffbx

Go get yourself a big bag of plugs, because when you're starting out you'll crimp more bad ones than good ones. You might also want to pick up a cheap tester - about $20 will get you one that will tell you if the wires are in the correct order & making contact.

Some tips:

- To maintain CAT5 specs, the wire pairs have to remain twisted almost all the way into the plug (I think the spec allows for 1/2" of untwisted cable). Untwisting too much will cause the speed of your connection to drop, possibly all the way down to 10Mb.

- Always cut the cable longer than you need it to be. This way if you have a bad crimp, you can just cut the ends off & start over.

- Strip & untwist a good 3 or 4 inches of cable - this will give you enough room to work with. Then when you have the wires in the correct order, cut off all but about 1/2 - 3/4" of the wire, being careful to keep them in order. Cram the wires into the plug - you might have to push pretty hard to get them all the way in. Check ALL the wires to see that they're as close to the end of the plug as possible - sometimes the ones in the middle don't make it all the way. When the wires are in properly, THEN put the plug into the crimper & go to town on it.

- Here's a picture guide - http://www.service911.com/techdepot/...1963%2C00.html


That's true. There are two common standards - AT&T 258A and B. It really doesn't matter which one you use, but when you pick one stick to that one for your entire installation to avoid confusion.

Tommy Boomfiger

thats strange, everytime ive seen instructions for making cat5 cables they have used that order, or at least matching colors on the outside pairs and mixed colors on the 2 middle pairs. now that i think about it, it doesnt matter because because each wire is the same on both ends. matching pairs will be a hell of a lot easier than what ive been doing.

kain9i6

The wires do not have to be in any particular order.. they can be any combination of colors if:

when you are making a crossover cable (computer to computer, hub to hub, Hub to router: ONLY if you are NOT using uplink port of router) make sure that the 1/3 and 2/6 wires are switched.. meaning

If you go in this order:

Side 1
White/green
Green
White/orange
Blue
White/Blue
Orange
White/brown
Brown

Side 2 should be like this
White/orange
Orange
White/Green
Blue
White/Blue
Green
White/Brown
Brown

BUT!!! if you are making a patch cable, (From hub/Router to computer, or hub to router: ONLY if you are attaching through uplink port of router.) the diagram would straight through.. 1 becomes 1, 2 becomes 2, 3 becomes 3 and so on and so forth.. Granted, you only need wires 1, 2, 3 and 6 for standard ethernet connections I always use all 6 wires..

These websites should help you.. but let me know if you need further help..

http://www.homenethelp.com/web/expla...-crossover.asp

http://www.littlewhitedog.com/reviews_other_00009.asp

Bires

With CAT-5e (enhanced) you MUST use the right wire order, as difference sets of twisted pairs are twisted (more/less) than others.

I've always made straight cables
orange-white
orange
green-white
blue
blue-white
green
brown-white
brown.

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ufcrusher

Well this is definitely one of those times I am glad to have procrastinated. Thanks again to everyone who gave their input.

Now, as for the tester...what exactly is it testing. This may seem like a dumb question, but if its testing after the crimping was done then there is no reason why I cant just connect the cable and see if it works. A bad cable is just not going to work...so it cant cause any other problems. Since I am not installing the wires in any permanent way I dont think a tester is needed.

Bires

A (cheap) wire tester tests if a signal can get from one end to the other...and will tell you if a wire is mismatched or broken. Get a cheap one to make sure your cables are wired right (saves you time).

If you have $$, an active tester will tell you the signal loss at distance and whether you are getting network traffic out of an active port.

eSDee

This is the order I use.

ufcrusher

Just wanted to let you know that I have finally made a cable that worked. It was only the second attempt, but it was my second set of connectors. I have to admit that this is a total pain in the arse to get the cables to go into the correct groove. Good thing I only have a few more cables to make.

Thanks again.