How to Make an Ethernet Cat5e/Cat6 Cable

Welcome to the Discount-Low-Voltage.com Blog. Today we are going to demonstrate How to Make an Ethernet Cat5e or Cat6 Cable. Here is a list of the items you will need to make your ethernet cable:

Wire Stripper

Cable Cutter

RJ45 Crimp Tool

RJ45 Modular Plugs

Ethernet Cable - Cat5, Cat5e or Cat6

Cable Tester














Now that you have the right tools, lets make an ethernet cable.

Step 1) Strip off 2 inches of jacket on the cable. Cut the excess ripcord off. (Note: If you're using Cat6 cable, it may have a wire separator between the 4 pairs of wires. Cut that off as well).

















Step 2) Untwist all 4 pairs of wire.

Step 3) Follow the standard 568b Wiring Diagram:

Orange/White
Orange
Green/White
Blue
Blue/White
Green
Brown/White
Brown




Step 4) Hold the wires flat and use scissors to cut straight across, leaving 1/2" of wire exposed.

Step 4a) If you're making Cat6 cables, your mod plug will come with a loadbar. This small plastic piece must go on before you insert the wires into the mod plug. (for detailed instructions on installing the loadbar, scroll down to the comments located at the very bottom of this article)










Step 5) Insert the wires into your modular plug, making sure to keep the wires flat and in the same order. Verify that the wires are all flush at the very end of the plug. Note how the cable jacket is past the crimp spot on the plug and the wires are all the way to the end.

Step 6) Insert mod plug into crimp tool and squeeze handle. Keep slight pressure on the cable (towards the crimp tool) as you're crimping the plug. This will ensure nothing comes loose as you squeeze the handle and crimp down the mod plug.

Step 7) Remove mod plug from crimp tool and verify everything was done correctly. Note how the crimp is pushing down on the jacket and the pins have seated into the wire. Now follow the same process on the other side.

Step 8) Now that you have a completed ethernet cable, plug one end into your Transmitter and the other end into the Receiver. The wires will light up either "Green" or "Red". If you have done everything correctly, you should see all green lights. If not, you will need to go back and redo the side causing the error.

Don't own a crimp tool? Need more Cat5e cable? Order that all here:

Wire Stripper

Cable Cutter (Electricians Scissors)

Ratcheting Crimp Tool

RJ45 Mod Plugs 8P8C

Bulk Cat5e Ethernet Cable

Cable Tester

Like watching it done on video? Mercy will demonstrate the process of making an ethernet cable for you. Enjoy



We hope you like our demonstration of How to Make an Ethernet Cat5e Cable. Want to see more instructional videos, like How to Punch Down a Patch Panel or How to Terminate Fiber Optic Cable? Visit the Discount-Low-Voltage.com YouTube page.

Note: Maximum cable length for Cat5e cable is 100 meters. Anything longer than that might not work correctly.

Related Posts:
How To Terminate Cat5e/Cat6 Kwik Jacks Using the Kwik Tool
How To Punch Down Cat5e/Cat6 Keystone Jacks
How Low Voltage Cable is Made
Crazy Data Center Wiring Pictures and Video
Standard 568b Wiring Diagram
4 Pair Cat5e CMR Bulk Cable
How To Fish Wires Through a Wall or Ceiling