:: How to make your patch cables ::

First off, to find out where pin number 1 is, hold the connector with the pins facing up and the tab the locks in to the socket facing down with the open end facing left.  The top pin (on the right hand side) is number 1, the bottom pin is number 8.

After you get your cable to the length you want, strip off about 1" of the outer casing, making sure to not damage any of the wires inside.  If there is any sort of plastic fibers showing, you can trim that as it is not needed.  Untwist the wires and get them into one one of the following orders:

568A Wiring Method:
1 - white/green
2 - green
3 - white/orange
4 - blue
5 - white/blue
6 - orange
7 - white/brown
8 - brown

568B Wiring Method:
1 - white/orange
2 - orange
3 - white/green
4 - blue
5 - white/blue
6 - green
7 - white/brown
8 - brown

It doesn't matter which wiring method you use, as long as both ends use the same type.  If you switch them, you will end up with a crossover cable.  568B is the more commonly used one.

After you have them in the proper order and the cable are in a flat line, trim the ends so there's only about 1/2" exposed wire.  Make sure you cut in a straight line.

Now, with the connector, pins facing up, slid the cables into the connector making sure that there is only one cable going into each of the channels.

Insert the assembled connector into a cat-5 crimping tool and squeeze down at least 3 times to ensure that connector has been fully crimped.

Repeat with other end, and you have your own cable!


:: Footnotes ::

Informational source: Several sources

This e-book can be obtained from the author's website, www.vrillusions.com

by: vrillusions@mail.com - vrillusions.com
making cat-5 patch cables.txt v1.0 (c)January, 2002