Upon visiting Circuit City, any person would be outraged at how much a simple ethernet cable can cost these days! Did you know that making your own cables may be a viable solution if you plan to use new cables on a semi-regular basis? You can obtain CAT5 wire and RJ45 connectors from most home improvement stores as well as the tools necessary to crimp the wire (specifically, the wirecutter and crimper). To make a new cable, cut a section of the CAT5 line to the desired length, then cut off the covering around the twisted pairs about 2 inches from the end of the wire. Untwist all the pairs into 8 separate wires, then roughly fit the wires into the RJ45 connector. Once they are all in the correct general area, carefully push them all in at once until they almost “touch the edge” of the connector; finally, use the crimper to crimp the connector to the wires. One note: don’t crimp too hard! It can render the connector useless (if you break the plastic clip).
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