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Making your own network cable

Equipment needed:

Crimping Tool,
2x RJ 45 Plugs,
CAT5 Network Cable
The pictures on the right show:
an empty RJ45 socket
and the crimping tool

The first step of the process is to strip back the outer sheath of the cable taking care not to damage the wires underneath.  Once this is removed open out the twisted pairs so you know where you are working.

The next step is to decide which type of cable you need, hopefully my connection page has helped you make your decision.  The two diagrams below explain the wiring arrangements of the different types of cable.

Now you need to untwist the wires and put them in order between your fingers.  If you smooth them out once in order they should stay in position.  The diagram below shows the arrangement for both straight wire plugs and one of the crossover plugs (NB the crossover cable has a different wiring arrangement for each plug, one of which is the same as both plugs on a straight wired cable)

Next step is to trim the wires so they will fit into the plug

You need to remember that the outer sheath is held by the triangular piece of plastic approximately one third of the way up the plug (highlighted using the red arrow in the image below).  When you finally crimp the plug onto the cable this piece of plastic will be used to hold the wires in place and is important that the outer sheath is correctly aligned under this or the cable may not work.

The blue arrow indicates the place where the wires should reach.  When you crimp the wire those metal connectors pierce the casing of each individual plastic sheath making contact with bare wire below.

Pushing the cable in is easy, as long as all the individual wire are trimmed to the same length and you haven't removed too much of the outer sheath, just push the whole lot in as far as it will go.  The inside of the plug contains little moulded tracks so that the wires should separate out into the order you want them when you push them in.  If one wire looks like going the wrong way just pull them all out a bit, give them a wiggle and shove them back in!

Below are two pictures showing the actual crimping.  Notice that the red arrow shows where the crimping tool is going to press the triangular plastic piece down onto the outer sheath to hold the cable steady and the blue arrow shows the metal 'teeth' that are going to push the metal connectors of the plug down through the plastic coating to touch the wires underneath. The plug has to be crimped HARD so PUSH!

And there you have it, one end of your network cable done.  All you need to do now is the other plug and don't forget that if you are making a crossover cable you will have to wire the plug differently.