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Things I hate doing: ethernet RJ45/8P8C plug replacement

Chuck(G)

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I replace ethernet UTP plugs so infrequently that I forget any shortcuts I use the next time that the job comes around. So this is a reminder to me, more than anything.

I've got some cable strung where the return (striped) wires are only faintly marked and the marking comes off if they're handled too much. So how to get the wires all bundled nicely so they go into the crimp connector easily. If you've never done this, you're in for an experience.

What I do: Strip the jacket off the cable for a distance of perhaps an inch and a half. Using a strip of painter's (masking will do) tape, lay the conductors out on the tape in the correct order (T568B or T568A, depending on what the connector on the other end indicates), leaving perhaps a half-inch extending over the far edge of the tape. Wrap the tape around the bundle so that the order is preserved. Trim the ends of the wires so that they're nice and even. Insert the cable, with tape still intact, into the connector and crimp. Release the jacket clamp and slide the jacket into the connector.

Anyone have any better methods?
 
what a great idea! I was trying to figure out how to use up 100 feet of 50 conductor twist but not flat that was sent to me by mistake
 
I suspect that many people simply trash the cable and replace it with a new one. That's not really an option for really long cables that were hell to lay to begin with. I guess there's always WiFi. In a way, I miss thinnet. One conductor, good durable BNC fittings, easy to install. Just don't lose the terminators. When I went to UTP, I simply taped the end of the cat5 cable to the coax and pulled it through between floors.

Al, I know what you mean. I'm staring at a job that I really need to do with 62 conductor round cable and DC62 solder-cup connectors.
 
I suspect that many people simply trash the cable and replace it with a new one. That's not really an option for really long cables that were hell to lay to begin with. I guess there's always WiFi. In a way, I miss thinnet. One conductor, good durable BNC fittings, easy to install. Just don't lose the terminators. When I went to UTP, I simply taped the end of the cat5 cable to the coax and pulled it through between floors.

Al, I know what you mean. I'm staring at a job that I really need to do with 62 conductor round cable and DC62 solder-cup connectors.

Thats why I got a jar of these:-

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353398224930

not cheap, but they fit over most clips and can save a lot of pain and grief when the cable is inaccessible.
 
I must admit almost all my cables with plugs on are short patch leads and all the long runs are punch down into keystones. Desktop patch panels are really useful to tidy up runs of cables at the switch rather than plugging them all.
 
Meh, it's probably just as economical to pick up a bunch of the cheap TPLink N300 range extenders and ditch the long cables. They work a treat when configured as Wifi links. With vintage gear (no ISA Wifi cards) or PCs in rackmount configuration (no Wifi in a metal box) they work well.
 
Meh, it's probably just as economical to pick up a bunch of the cheap TPLink N300 range extenders and ditch the long cables. They work a treat when configured as Wifi links. With vintage gear (no ISA Wifi cards) or PCs in rackmount configuration (no Wifi in a metal box) they work well.
You're right on ditching the cables. I've been using a similar setup for 4 or 5 years with no problems - wi-fi and streaming, as well as various lighting systems and Echos.
 
I minimise the use of wifi wherever possible. You just can't beat a hardwired link :)

But then again, I have run cables throughout the house and each node of the wifi mesh has a hardwired backhaul. Makes for a seamless system.
 
When one has a 10baseT NIC installed, WiFi isn't even breaking a sweat servicing it. Probably barely budges the needle on older gear using 100BaseT in many cases. For me, it's mostly about file transfer and perhaps a little internal telnetting.

When are you going to replace all that copper with fiber, Gary? :)
 
I have literally replaced or installed, in my estimate, 100o's of RJ45 connectors. I was high school CompTIA A+ computer science teacher for 18 years, LOL. I always dreaded the "creating an EIA/TIA 568A/B Ethernet cable" chapter because my fingers would be so sore after a few days of "Show and tell".

"White-Orange, Orange, White-Green, Blue, White-Blue, Green, White-Brown, Brown" is burned into my brain, LOL. (That's a standard 568B wiring scheme)

Your method sounds good for people that rarely make these cables. I'm not kidding here, I can make those ends using just my fingers, a wire cutter, and crimp tool in under 45 seconds flat. 30 Seconds when I'm hopped up on coffee! Yeah, it's a skill that will take me far, I know.

My students always pointed out these:

https://www.platinumtools.com/produc...ctors-100026c/

(This is the RJ11/12 version but they make them for RJ45 too)

Yep, way easier, but 4 to 5 times the cost per connector that the school would not shell out (40-50 students per year times about a dozen connectors before they got the hang of it. Plus the connectors I would go through showing the process over, and over, and over again). Also requires a special crimp tool that cuts the wire ends as it crimps.
 
When one has a 10baseT NIC installed, WiFi isn't even breaking a sweat servicing it. Probably barely budges the needle on older gear using 100BaseT in many cases. For me, it's mostly about file transfer and perhaps a little internal telnetting.

When are you going to replace all that copper with fiber, Gary? :)

Lol :)

I meant for modern use. When the kids were at home, with three games consoles and two PC/Mac desktops with five phones, a Wii, and two laptops, all on at the same time the wifi was pretty crowded. Offloading most of it onto Cat6 certainly made a difference, especially to latency. Now I have fibre to the home and one of the kids starting a music business, its still paying dividends, 6 years later.

Fibre is a pain, I did think about it when crawling about the loft but without a splicer at home ;)
 
The last time I had the side of the house opened up (replacing a balcony), I took a hunk of PVC pipe and ran it in the joist space between floors and placed a hunk of steel wire in it (so I could locate it later)--should be a piece of cake snaking a cable through that. Never got around to using it, however. I'm still using the run I made with a *long* drill bit for RG58/U coax 30 years ago.. I doubt that it will change before they haul my carcass off somewhere. Maybe for the next occupants...

A question for the experts on installing 8P8C plugs: If I'm making my own cables, is there any reason that I can't make my cables without the silly white-green crossover? That is, on both ends, use White-orange, Orange, White-blue, Blue, White-green, Green, White-Brown, Brown" ordering? I know that the "B" ordering is descended from telco standards, but electrically, will the alternate pairing affect transmission characteristics?
 
The last time I had the side of the house opened up (replacing a balcony), I took a hunk of PVC pipe and ran it in the joist space between floors and placed a hunk of steel wire in it (so I could locate it later)--should be a piece of cake snaking a cable through that. Never got around to using it, however. I'm still using the run I made with a *long* drill bit for RG58/U coax 30 years ago.. I doubt that it will change before they haul my carcass off somewhere. Maybe for the next occupants...

A question for the experts on installing 8P8C plugs: If I'm making my own cables, is there any reason that I can't make my cables without the silly white-green crossover? That is, on both ends, use White-orange, Orange, White-blue, Blue, White-green, Green, White-Brown, Brown" ordering? I know that the "B" ordering is descended from telco standards, but electrically, will the alternate pairing affect transmission characteristics?

This funky wiring scheme is done to prevent cross-talk between the wires. When I took over managing a local computer store in 1998 a previous tech had just installed a small hub based Ethernet network in a 20 computer classroom at a local church. They were complaining that things were slow and not working most of the time. The tech, not knowing EIA/TIA standards did exactly what you suggested. When I corrected the wiring everything went smooth after that. I always used that as a real-world example in my classroom of the importance of eliminating cross-talk in cabling.
 
5G is coming fast . . .
icon_wink.gif
 
This funky wiring scheme is done to prevent cross-talk between the wires. When I took over managing a local computer store in 1998 a previous tech had just installed a small hub based Ethernet network in a 20 computer classroom at a local church. They were complaining that things were slow and not working most of the time. The tech, not knowing EIA/TIA standards did exactly what you suggested. When I corrected the wiring everything went smooth after that. I always used that as a real-world example in my classroom of the importance of eliminating cross-talk in cabling.

Good to know. I wondered if crosstalk would be an issue; you've confirmed it.
 
This funky wiring scheme is done to prevent cross-talk between the wires. When I took over managing a local computer store in 1998 a previous tech had just installed a small hub based Ethernet network in a 20 computer classroom at a local church. They were complaining that things were slow and not working most of the time. The tech, not knowing EIA/TIA standards did exactly what you suggested. When I corrected the wiring everything went smooth after that. I always used that as a real-world example in my classroom of the importance of eliminating cross-talk in cabling.

I would have put it down to using a hub for 20 computers. The amount of reflections and collisions would have been so terrible that it'd be a miracle if it worked at all. A hub with even 4 computers on it has terrible problems with packet collisions. There's a reason why hubs stopped being a thing 20 years ago.

never needed super glue. I only had a problem were some cables had some sort of sealant in the plug.

Premade cables had something inside the end connectors? Those are usually injection molded so some plastic will get forced inside the connector if they let the moulding machine run too long.
 
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