Cat 5, who knows the kitty

[Werewolfdaddy]

I was considering buying a large spool of cat 5 to save money down the road on cat5 cables. Our lan grows daily, it seems and we want to be prepared. How does one crimp it properly? I can get the cat5 wholesale so, how should I start? TIA

[mairving]

Here is a diagram of how to connect the cables. It is not too hard to crimp but it just takes a little practice.
<a href="http://www.linksys.com/faqs/default.asp?fqid=20" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.linksys.com/faqs/images/crossover.gif" border="0"></a>
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<a href="http://www.linksys.com/faqs/default.asp?fqid=20" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.linksys.com/faqs/images/straightthru.gif" border="0"></a>

[SARGE]

And get the right cotton pickin' tool. I tried this once using a pair of needle nose pliers. Never happen. I finally put a jack at each location and ran the wire, then used short cables.

[old dog]

You can get the tool and ends at your local Home Depot, decient prices, or at Radio Shack. If you live in a large city that has a electrical supply house, or Alarm system supply house, you can get them there. Get a large box of ends, you will ruin 4 or 5 right off. Just follow the diagram, no need to strip the ends of each conductor, just push them up tight while forcing the outer jacket to slide down into the end and crimp it. Be sure to leave extra cable so you can move things around a little. Max length is around 300 feet for any of the runs. The wire will be cheaper at an electrical supply house.

[Great_One]

If your going to make your own cables, save your self some grief
and get at least a basic cable tester. that way you will at least know that you have it wired right and that all the pairs are good.

[HAL9000]

I agree. We got a cable tester from Startech (about $100CDN), and it has save me a lot of grief. Tests phone cables and USB cables as well.

[LawyerRon]

Cable tester is a must. When I was first learning how to crimp my own, the first 5 or 6 didn't work.

[erucader]

yep, a tester is good when u first crimp the cables, but after you get the hang of it its not necessary. generally you can test the cable by plugging it into ur computer :)

[HAL9000]

Nah... I still find it a necessity. I know right away whether it's good or bad. Having the ability to test USB cables is great too. Had a customer fussing with a printer that would detect, but crash during the install. He messed with it for an hour before bringing me the printer and computer. I put the cable on and bang, flakey cable. Threw a new one on and was done. He bought a tester on the spot.

[jamesrpm]

Which crimpers do you prefer and why? I'm looking into getting a set for work instead of buying patch cords.

[old dog]

Look here at Techni-tool (https://webvia.techni-tool.com/VIA5/index.jsp) or here at Jenson Tools (http://www.jensentools.com/product/search.cfm) and search for RJ-45

[jamesrpm]

I know where to find and buy them ,want your opinions of diffrent makers of them.

[Confused]

deleted URL not loading to correct page. Will repost if I can get it working.
Chas

[mc2phat]

I second getting a tester. I'm color blind to begin with. I used to make CAT 5 cables and occasionally I'd run fiber optic cable. The only way I could do this was have someone tape a piece of each color wire onto a card with the color written above each so i could compare the wires I was working with. I still messed up a lot. Not so much on fiber optic cuz it was such a pain in the butt to fix, I'd REALLY make sure I had it right.

[old dog]

AMP or IDEAL both are good

[LawyerRon]

Most home improvement centers like Home Depot and Lowes carry some decent crimpers.

[Werewolfdaddy]

Thanks, all.

[Werewolfdaddy]

I noticed that on the diagram the little wires inside were twisted. How many times should they be twisted?

[SARGE]

Originally posted by Werewolfdaddy
I noticed that on the diagram the little wires inside were twisted. How many times should they be twisted?

Don't worry about it. CAT 5 means "5 twists per inch". You don't want them unraveled much outside the actual connector, but you also want enough split between the wires to work with.

[HAL9000]

I usually strip off 2 inches of the outer insulation, untwist each pair to the blue insulation, sort them, pull them between my fingers until they are flat, then trip it to 3/4 inch.

Sarge, is that what CAT 5 actually means? The reason I ask is If you pull out say 6 inches of each pair, they aren't twisted the same amount. Some have considerably more twist than the others.

[SARGE]

Hal, I can see everyone scrambling for a ruler now. :) As you know, CAT 5 is rated for a higher frequency than CAT 3 and below. I use both in my work and that's always been the explanation about the twists. CAT 5 does have tighter twists per inch and when laid across a ruler one can count 5, and as you say, some have more. The more the better. I don't know if that's the scientific explanation on CAT 5 (5 twists per inch), but I know CAT 3 seems to have 3 and CAT 5 has 5.

[KTS]

I make between 15 to 20 cables a week...worked with alot of different crimpers...if you don't mind spending the extra money I suggest Black Box.... as far as having more twists..I beleive CAT 5
has at least 5 twists per inch..sometimes more....not less