-=PCTechTalk=- Re: CAT5 cable coding/wiring scheme tutorial
- From: "GMan" <gman.pctt@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "PCTechTalk FreeLists Group" <PCTechTalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 16 May 2007 00:53:38 -0400
HB,
I crimp my own cables using a telephone/ethernet (RJ-11/RJ-45) modular
crimp tool I bought at Lowes. The tool has a cutter section that strips the
PVC sheathing off of the cabling at the perfect length. Most large hardware
places should carry these. Cat 5e cable is also relatively cheap and easy
to find. I just bought a box with 1000 ft. of it for about $85 US at Home
Depot.
Cat 5e cable contains 4 sets of twisted pairs of wires encased in a PVC
sheath. The cheaper stuff is normally rated for indoor use only, but
exterior grade is also available for a premium. If you're running from one
building to another, you'll need exterior quality for at least that part of
he run. Interior grade cable can be used for all indoor runs to keep down
your costs.
Once the sheath is stripped from the end of the cable, you need to
untwist each pair of wires so that you can manually rearrange them according
to the color codes below. I will strongly suggest that you also have a
utility knife or other sharp blade handy to cut off any thin string that is
also exposed by the crimper. When reordering the wires, the trick is to
hold the ends in between the thumb and index finger of one hand while
ordering them with the other hand. You want the properly ordered wire ends
to be in a straight line (all 8 in a row with no space between the tips)
when you insert the ends into the proper jack (RJ-45 in this case). Once
the wire tips are inserted all the way into the jack, place the jack into
another section of the crimper and squeeze the handle to make the contacts
grab the wires and complete the procedure. I've found that it's much easier
than it sounds, but it's also easy to forget about that string and have it
prevent good contact on one or more of the wires inside the jack.
Twisted Pair Colors (numbered in pairs):
Pair 1: Blue with Blue/White
Pair 2: Orange with Orange/White
Pair 3: Green with Green/White
Pair 4: Brown with Brown/White
There are two approaches to the ordering of the pairs within the jacks.
They are referred to as 8P8C T568A & 8P8C T568B. Both are shown below. The
numbers tell you the order of the colors and will always go from left to
right. This assembly should be inserted into the jack with the release tab
on the bottom of the jack. In other words, the jack needs to be turned
upside down before you insert the wire tips into the open end.
Since you're wiring your own place, it really doesn't matter which
method you choose, as long as you stick with only one of them throughout the
entire network build (and any subsequent additions in the future).
Ethernet Color Codes:
8P8C T568A wiring:
1. Green/White
2. Green
3. Orange/White
4. Blue
5. Blue/White
6. Orange
7. Brown/White
8. Brown
8P8C T568B wiring:
1. Orange/White
2. Orange
3. Green/White
4. Blue
5. Blue/White
6. Green
7. Brown/White
8. Brown
Telephone wiring using Cat 5e:
Each twisted pair (there are 4 'pairs' of them in Cat 5e cable) is
designed to be used for a single telephone line, allowing a single Cat 5e
cable to handle up to 4 lines. The two twisted wires for each line
represent the Tip and Ring of the large quarter inch phone plugs that were
used way back in the days of operator assisted switchboards. Of course,
since each wire is color coded, there is a standard for how to use them. I
will do my best to keep it as simple as possible. :O)
Line 1: Blue and Blue/White
Line 2: Orange and Orange/White
Line 3: Green and Green/White
Line 4: Brown and Brown/White
When it comes to RJ-11 4-pin jacks (standard telephone jacks), most
residential uses are for a single line. In that case, you would only use
the Blue pair wired as shown below. Again, the jack is turned upside down
before inserting the wire tips.
1. N/C
2. Blue
3. Blue/White
4. N/C
If you choose to send two lines through a single cable, the Blue pair
remains the same, but you'll add the orange pair for the second line.
1. Orange/White
2. Blue
3. Blue/White
4. Orange
In addition to using RJ-11 4-pin jacks, you can opt to use RJ-11 6-pin
jacks to handle up to 3 lines. Just be aware that few consumer level
products are designed to accept &/or be able to separate all 3 lines on
these. Instead, these could be used to transport 3 lines to a distant
location over a single cable where they would then be separated into
individual 2 or 4 pin jack equipped cables. The color codes are below.
1. Green/White
2. Orange/White
3. Blue
4. Blue/White
5. Orange
6. Green
Finally, you can use RJ-45 jacks to send 4 lines over a single cable
using the color code below. Note that this is exactly the same as the codes
for Ethernet shown above.
8P8C T568A wiring:
1. Green/White
2. Green
3. Orange/White
4. Blue
5. Blue/White
6. Orange
7. Brown/White
8. Brown
8P8C T568B wiring:
1. Orange/White
2. Orange
3. Green/White
4. Blue
5. Blue/White
6. Green
7. Brown/White
8. Brown
Cat 5e (as with most other CAT rated cabling) comes in both solid and
stranded varieties, referring to each of the 8 individual wires. Long runs
will always require solid Cat wire cabling while smaller patch cords should
be created from stranded wire Cat cabling. Stranded cables allow for more
flexability on shorter runs, but will degrade the signal if they are too
long. Solid cables don't suffer nearly as much signal loss as stranded
cables, but they can NOT be crimped anywhere throughout the run. This means
you can't send them around a sharp corner without the strong possibility of
breaking one or more of the wires inside the cable. All turns must be
gradual and any mounting clips/staples/brackets/etc. must be somewhat loose
in order to not pinch the cable. As a final note, any and all cable loops
(used for wrapping up excess cable length) cannot be any smaller than 6
inches in diameter. This is to prevent impedence loss of the signal.
As always, if you have any questions, concerns, thoughts or reflections,
don't hesitate to give a yell. :O)
Peace,
GMan
"The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked!"
----- Original Message -----
From: <HandsomeBlck@xxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2007 7:16 AM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- CAT5 cable coding/wiring scheme
> GMan,
> I will take you up this. My understanding is I will be making a patch
> cord. So yes, I'd like the standard color coding scheme.
>
> Thanks,
>
> HB
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