Terminating/Testing Network Cables - CAT 3, CAT5, CAT6, CAT 7, CAT 8

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Punching down and testing cat5 cables is something that a lot of people struggle with understanding so today I'm going to talk about what the various category cables are, how to decide if you need A or B configuration, and how to check your terminations with a tester when you're done.

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Category 5 cable is probably the most commonly know network cable. It's only one of the many kinds out there, however. There are others like Category 3, Cat 5, Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6a, Cat 7, and even the new Cat 8. Category cables are simply twisted pair cable assemblies that have 4 pairs of conductors - 8 total wires inside. Each pair is color-coded to allow the installer to see which pairs they're dealing with when making terminations.

The colors for terminating are made up of 4 solid colored conductors, and 4 striped. Each solid has a matching color striped conductor that it is twisted together with inside of the jacketing.

Each pair has a specific purpose in how they send and receive signals, and when punching down keystone jacks and crimping RJ45 connectors you need to know the order they're supposed to go to ensure the cables work correctly.

568A or 568B?
Every termination we do nowadays has two options for how the wires can be ordered. The old way of wiring was using the T568A configuration. These days most people use the T568B configuration, and there's a reason for it.

A straight-through cable will have one configuration on both ends of the cable. This means that on one side you'll have A, and the other you'll have A. This allows information to be passed "straight through" the cable for devices that are DIFFERENT than one-another. If you wire for configuration B, the same is true. The reason there are 2 configurations is that there is a type of network cable called a "crossover cable" that needs to be able to be visibly recognized when looking at it. This type of cable has ONE side using an A configuration, while the other has a B configuration. This allows two SIMILAR devices to speak to each other, and listen to each other at the same time.

If you try to use a crossover cable for 2 different devices it will not work, and if you try to use a straight-through cable for 2 similar devices it will not work. Each has their purpose. However, whether or not you use A or B configuration, your cables will still work if you make sure both ends are the same. Crossover cables are very rare and are used specifically by people who know why they're using them. For the average person, wiring a cable with both ends as A, while hooking up to a network that is wired in B is ok. All of the pins will still line up allowing different devices to communicate. It's only a problem when the pins differ on both ends or are punched down/terminated incorrectly.

TERMINATING RJ45 CONNECTORS
An RJ45 connector is the "male" end of a cable that plugs into the "female" keystone jack. An RJ45 has 8 metal pins that pierce the sheathing of the 8 individual wires in the CAT cable assembly. These pins have a specific order that must be followed to ensure they transmit and receive data, otherwise, they won't work or they'll short-out your equipment.

Strip out about 3 inches of jacketing at the end of the cable. Cut off any plastic insulation, or fibers that come on the inside of the cable. Next untwist all of the pairs and straighten them out using something solid. I drag the edge of my strippers down each conductor to remove the curls in each one. Then line each conductor up in either the A or B configuration from LEFT TO RIGHT as they emerge from the jacketing. Next, take your RJ45 connector and measure out how much of the conductors you need, and cut off the excess. You should only need roughly 1/2-inch to 3/8-inch of conductors sticking out of the jacketing.

#cat5 #rj45 #keystone #networkcable
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Great explanation of the keystone jack, very informative. 3:10 "With ethernet you're only using 4 out of these 8 wires." That's partially correct. With 10/100 Mbit, you use 4 wires: 1 pair for TX and 1 pair for RX. But 1 Gbit uses all 8 wires: 4 bidirectional pairs. You can try this yourself by only connecting the 4 wires mentioned in the video (pin 1, 2, 3 and 6) and then connecting for example your laptop to your router. It will show that it's connected at 100 Mbit instead of 1 Gbit.

GerbenWijnja
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Lo impact is for keystones and punch down blocks with the same type pins so you have less chance of damaging the pins and the tabs. Hi impact is for your traditional 66 block type connections and uses more force to get to the board and cut the wires.

I have done some government wiring years ago and we had to certify each wire for it's speed capabilities, it would give you a pass or fail but also numbers for the speed it could transfer data. If you had too much untwisted wire the capabilities of the data cable would be diminished.

Great video and a lot of useful information, I always enjoy your videos.

karlbrown
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A quick tip, once you expose the wires, use the string and pull it back to slit the sheaf. This prevents nicking of the twisted pairs. I usually use my scissors and cut into the first inch or so of the cable, find the string and pull it back. There are pass thru versions of the rj45 plug that make it easier to verify the pairs are correct. The crimper than cuts the excess cable.

jenniferwagner
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Gigabit Ethernet uses 8 wires (4 pairs). Only 100mbits and 10mbits ethernet leave 2 pairs unused, unless Power over Ethernet is implemented, then all 4 pairs are used again.
It is critical to get the wiring of all 4 pairs correct for Gigabit or 10Gigabit ethernet. It is also critical for systems that use Power over Ethernet.
Telephone lines only use one pair, they do not use two pairs. Telephone uses a multiplexing system and only needs two wires (one pair) to both send and receive. If you only use 4 wires ( 2 pairs) as described, you will only get a maximum of 100mbits speed.
:)

EsotericArctos
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Great video. A couple of updates to your information. The brown and blue pairs ARE used in networking for several things, not the least of which is PoE. Second, Telephone is full duplex over ONE twisted pair, the second pair is for a second line. I believe the Kevlar string is for strengthening the cable for pulling, though it is a convenient jacket splitter. The Crimp tool has two blades, one for scoring the jacket and one from cutting the ends off straight. Last, but not least, for electricians who are running the wire, be careful not to kink the wire. A kink will degrade or prevent the signals, and it is recommended that the wire be at least 12" from power wire when running parallel.

SnackManJ
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Cat5 "UTP" stands for *unshielded* twisted pair. Not "universal". And STP is, conversely, *shielded* twisted pair, referring to an RF shield wrapped around the wire bundle, under the outer jacket.

lyfandeth
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Great video. It helped me out with what I needed. When cat5 and cat6 wires need to be terminated in the industrial industry I can add this under my belt. I also appreciate all the low voltage guys giving their input as well. One isn't complete with out the other...✌🏿

uptowngregory
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Here’s something I would’ve added in, and done differently. you want to keep the twist in the cable as much as possible, or else they would not certify if tested. The best way to punch down a keystone is to leave them twisted, and make a small gap with your fingernail. It allows the pair to go into the keystone Slots, and is much easier to terminate since they won’t slip out. Also, it means the twist stay in the cable

thetechstop
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I love these videos Dustin. They're great for someone like me who never worked on these before and is expected to know what I'm doing while in class when we had no prior instruction. Its just like read schematic and go, no lesson.

kylelikeskjvbible
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Love your channel. Just so you know, a phone line is only two conductors. The four pins are for locations with two phone lines. The "full duplex" capability of telephones is really quite a clever design, but it uses two conductors.

Also, gigabit ethernet uses all 8 conductors, as does POE Power over ethernet.

All that said, your videos are great 👍

MrThinkingmyself
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I was just trying to learn a bit about this stuff to test my cat6 jack that isn't working in my office. Although i've pretty well determined that i'll just wait for our data guy to come and inspect/repair it, as a student of many things, i found this super interesting and well-taught. Good job!

RyanH
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Don’t untwist pairs when doing the jacks, only for the plugs

michaeldoit
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Thanks so much. I'm about to wire our house with Cat6 and this was concise enough to get me going. Now I know what those strange tools are for!

dmlagoon
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One thing I've learned is that the string inside the cable, called a "rip cord", is there to literally rip the sheathing. So after you strip off like 2" of sheath, you should grasp the string and rip down another 2 inches or so... then chop off the conductors BELOW where you stripped the sheath. The reason for this is because in your initial stripping of the sheath, there was some risk you nicked one or more inner conductors. So the rip cord stripping of the sheath comes closer to guaranteeing good inner conductors.

aaron
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This was great! Thank you so much... This also answered by other conundrum - how to figure out which cat 5's are which in my box in the basement. The tester doubles as for finding the correct end.

musickdoc
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The keystone has a "puck" that provides a little wider footprint for punching down and it protects the tab from being broken. It can be difficult to get the keystone jacks into and out of the puck when they are brand new, but it does help.

chadhidalgo
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A couple of tidbits to try to and help out any other DIY'ers. You want to avoid running UTP/CAT 5 parallel (next to) standard romex (considered high voltage, compared to low voltage CAT 5). Electrical wires can introduce EMI into your networking cables and cause issues. Also, with regard to testing, there is a huge difference in merely testing cable versus "certifying" cable. What is shown here in the video is a good simple test to make sure your pin-outs and terminations are correct but it doesn't actually validate that the run is capable of supporting gigabit speed.

jeremiegrund
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Hey mate you got the basic there just would like to say the blue pair is for voice and the brown pair is power eg cameras use POE power over Ethernet which is the brown pair WAPS in buildings also use POE. Also with the male RJ45 it is best to put the rubber protector on which you see on you testers jumpers these protectors help stop the cable wires from breaking up close to the RJ45 crimp. Now as for A & B A is the Australian standard and still used heaps in Australia but you are correct as long as you wire it the same both ends it will pass and work anyway I enjoyed you how too it was good hope this helps you or someone reading comments and keep up the goo work

patmanwainwright
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Thanks, I was searching for a wire-mapping for female-male end ethernet patch cable, and your video beautifully shows the stuff.

jitendracshah
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I really like how you put the emphasis on lol. Great vid man.

jeremysmith