how to wire up cat5?

Magic_x_uk said:
aaargh, how do you sort these cables out to fit in a rj45.
there so small.

i am following the 568-B Wiring method on http://www.lanshack.com/make-cat5E.aspx
but i dont understand the picture of the cable on there. it says blue white/white blue

so is that blue cable with white on it or white cable with blue on it.

One wire will be mainly coloured with a thin white stripe, and the other will be mainly white with a thin coloured stripe. The predominant color will be mentioned first. CAT5 actually tends to have a pair where one wire is a solid colour, and the other is that colour with a white stripe.

Going to work now. Will check thread when I return. Plus it seems very tight trying to push those small wires into the rj45 socket itself.

PS: my RJ45't have a 'load bar'...............is it crucial?

A load bar should make life easier as it keeps the wires in the correct order when you slide the plug on.
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Done it.

Routed x2 Cat5e cables around the house etc.

Put RJ45 plugs on both ends and worked fine.

Then tried a RJ11 on router end and punched down onto IDC on the back of the ADSL Nation Faceplate so enabling me to move my router. I have actually got a increase in speed, only half a MB but still, a increase.


Seems to work fine. Glad I managed to move router as prefer it where it is now.

PS3 also seems a lot faster on line, less laggy now it is wired.


Many thanks for your help people. Appreciate it.


PS: That cable I linked and bought to earlier from OCUK is stranded.

RJ45/RJ11 plugs fitted on fine though.

When punching down onto IDC terminals. That took a bit more effort to make a good solid connection. Perhaps because there designed for 'solid' rather than 'stranded' so they don't cut into the cable as well when it is stranded.

But seems ok at moment touch wood.


Ended up buying x2 x30m Cat5e cable from OCUK. Have quite a bit left. Sure it will come in useful for other jobs in the future.


I also think I may get some of these RJ45 modules and wall plates as they look like they tidy it up a bit more professional.
 
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If you decide to fit wall plates...

The stranded cable you've used isn't designed for IDC terminals. You may get away with it, but you could have problems in the long term.

If you want to install faceplates and keep the existing cable then have a look for CAT5E Keystone couplers (and the matching Keystone faceplates). From the front they look like a standard network port. On the rear they have a another RJ45 socket instead of individual punch downs.
 
wouldnt it be easier if they just made some with screws instead of punch downs. Make life a lot easier.

Plus, I think shops (including ocuk) should state wherever solid or stranded as would help
 
No, screwdowns would take forever to install even if they worked.

Patch cords are always (as near as matters anyway) made from stranded cable.

Normally when you're pulling cables you'd be working from multiple 305m boxes. You wouldn't by buying long patch cords and then cutting the ends off.

If you use coupler type faceplates you shouldn't have any problems.

There's not actually anything wrong with using stranded cable, and it's probably easier to handle, as long as you don't try to mix it with IDC terminals.
 
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Magic_x_uk said:
wouldnt it be easier if they just made some with screws instead of punch downs. Make life a lot easier.

Plus, I think shops (including ocuk) should state wherever solid or stranded as would help
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They do state solid or stranded. At least the vast majority do.

I only get my cable and stuff from trade suppliers anyway :)
 
bremen1874 said:
If you decide to fit wall plates...

The stranded cable you've used isn't designed for IDC terminals. You may get away with it, but you could have problems in the long term.

If you want to install faceplates and keep the existing cable then have a look for CAT5E Keystone couplers (and the matching Keystone faceplates). From the front they look like a standard network port. On the rear they have a another RJ45 socket instead of individual punch downs.
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can you give me some idea where to look for these faceplates and keystone couplers please. As mind field out there as I don't know which companies are reliable.

Thanks
 
Magic_x_uk said:
can you give me some idea where to look for these faceplates and keystone couplers please. As mind field out there as I don't know which companies are reliable.

Thanks
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I had a look, but struggled to find anywhere that's not a direct competitor.

Shuttered face plates are easily available. Screwfix is one place where they can be picked up for a reasonable cost. Unfortunately they don't sell the couplers.

I did see that there are a few Keystone couplers for sale on that auction site.

If you do go down this route then don’t get the backing boxes until last as you may find that couplers will require more depth than normal punch downs.
 
Confused now. As don't know if to rip all the x2 runs of 20M cat5e Stranded out and order solid after listening to you guys.

Seems to working fine at the moment. Just need to tidy up the wires.

I understand about these keystone couplers. They seem a good idea.


Is there any type of adapter that allows you to add stranded onto solid.

Thinking I may just bite the bullet, order 100M of solid, (seen it for £30 x100m black, external use UTP) and start again.

See, I should have realised and listened! ready made cables are stranded.
 
If you really want to use the existing runs then you could.

Get some solid core cable, punch down on faceplate IDC terminals, on the other end crimp an RJ45 plug. Connect to existing stranded cable RJ45plug with a RJ45 coupler. It's basically just 2 female RJ45 ports wired up to one-another in a plastic mould

It's a total bodge and I would just run new solid core and re-make up your stranded for use as patch cables :D
 
yes i think ordering solid core may well be best route. Start again. We live and learn.

I will now have 60M of stranded spare so that's a lot of patch cables :)

Just on Kenable now. Looking at cable. They have External Outdoor Use Network LAN Cable Reel CAT5e Solid UTP 100m for £30 incl VAT so that should do the job I would think.

Just getting my head round the wall plates etc that I need. How many etc.

Although for the sake of a few pounds I could get a rj45-rj45 coupler add some solid wire. See if that works. It should do shouldn't it? certainly a cheaper option.
 
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If you do not need the exterior protection for outside use then you can likely save a little getting a cable not rated as such. There is all sorts of stuff you can get, mainly for building regulation compliance. For example if the building burns and gets at your cable you can buy LSZH - Low Smoke Zero Halogen stuff.

£30 is not bank breaking but if there is cheaper 'indoor use' stuff then just use that. As long as it's solid core you are golden.
 
Start again, the runs will be easy.

Pull out a length of cable from the reel, ducktape/electrical insulation tape a good 6 inches to another 6 inches of the end of existing cable, pull up from the other end with the existing cable run. Un-tape, discard old cable, bask in the glory that was a 2 second CAT5e run :D
 
right I am now £40 poorer.

100M solid cat5e, 1 rj45 wallplate and box ordered



Left with 60 meters of stranded cat5e.

Anyone want some ? lol
 
Magic_x_uk said:
right I am now £40 poorer.

100M solid cat5e, 1 rj45 wallplate and box ordered

Only one wall plate? What's going on the other end, or had you previously bought some others? I'm not sure if it has already been mentioned, but the commonly available RJ45 plugs are for stranded cable not solid core (althought they do usually work okay).

Left with 60 meters of stranded cat5e.

Custom length patch cords for life?

Anyone want some ? lol
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All kit is compatible with solid core tbh and I have never had issues with solid core connectivity in plugs, it's when you WANT stranded you need to look more carefully because generally you would never use it for fixed installs.

The general rule of thumb is solid for any fixed assets (Patch panel fixed cabling, faceplates etc) you use solid core. For any fixed > device connections (Ie patch leads) use stranded.

Any RJ45 plug/faceplate or otherwise should take a solid core CAT5e cable fine. I've used solid core for patch leads and to be honest unless you are doing something silly with them they are unlikely to break.
 
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Sin_Chase said:
All kit is compatible with solid core tbh, it's when you WANT stranded you need to look more carefully.

Any RJ45 plug/faceplate or otherwise should take a solid core CAT5e cable fine. I've used solid core for patch leads and to be honest unless you are doing something silly with them they are unlikely to break.
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I wasn’t referring to problems with cable breakage.

A normal 'stranded' RJ45 plug has a blade with two sharp points that pierces the wire lengthways and goes all the way through. It can do this because the blade can go between the strands of the wire.

RJ45 plugs for solid core cable have different blades that cut through the insulation down each side of the strand in a similar way to an IDC punch down.

As I said, it is normally possible to get away with using stranded plugs on solid core cable if that’s all you have available.
 
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