Samurai IT Guy's Sanctum

I found this video on YouTube that explains beautifully how to make a cat5 Network Cable. Below the video I’ve included a picture of the pin layouts for reference.

Diagram for both a standard patch cable, and a crossover cable:

Cat5 Pin Layouts

Need to cable a building with twisted-pair cabling? Here’s a shopping checklist of what you will need!

Before you buy…

1.) Get a schematic of the building! It won’t do anyone good to go buy and cut a thousand feet of cable only to realize that you either did not buy enough cabling, or made the drops too short. If a schematic is not available, measure the distance you will need from the server room, hub, etc… (plus more for slack, obstacles within the walls, etc), and most importantly….don’t forget to measure the drop from the ceiling to the floor!

2.) A good planner will always see where there will be more noise than others. UTP (Unshielded Twisted-Pair) is cheaper, and doesn’t have that extra insulated jacket that STP (Shielded Twisted-Pair) Most of the time (at least almost all business I’ve visited) use UTP. However in some situations, that extra coating can really help (especially around large industrial machines that make a lot of noise and interference).

3.) Know your country/state/province/city, etc.. fire codes!! In some places it’s mandatory to use different cables that are fire-rated (plenum-rated cable). Now, the big difference is that plenum-rated cable will not burn as quickly, nor will it emit toxic fumes. The kicker is though that it’s expensive.  And not just ‘$5 more bucks’ kinda expensive, it’s twice the price (or more) generally for it! So make sure you are 100% when it comes to deciding if you need plenum-rated cable (For another tip on buying, check out my previous post).

4.) Once you know how long your drops will need to be, it’s time to take the company credit card (or your own) out and go shopping! Unfortunately, we’re going to need a lot more than just a box of cable. And no…we’re not going to be purchasing an Xbox360, a brand new laptop, or that expensive bottle of Sherry from 1775 to impress that date tonight….

We are however are going to need the following:

• A box of cable. You did measure right?? Good. Now it’s time to get the right type of cable. Go with the minimum that your network supports, but plan for expandability. (e.g. if your network supports speeds up to 100mb/1Gb, you can go with cat5e, however, if you plan on installing gigabit NICs in all the workstations later, it may be a better choice to go with the faster cat6, even though it won’t be utilized fully until later).
• Lots of RJ-45 (a.k.a. 8P8C) connectors. Generally you can get a bag full of them for a reasonable price.
• Wire stripper, to strip the insulation from the wire.
• A Crimp Tool (or crimper). This is one tool that ranges wildly in price. From a cheap $5 one to a nice $150 one. The cheap ones aren’t even worth looking at, get a good solid one, it will outperform and outlast the cheap ones by a landslide.
  

  Crimp Tool

• Punchdown tool. Only used if your going to be installing cable into a punch panel. While it’s not a necessity (you can punch down without the tool), it does make life a heck of a lot easier on you (and your hands) if you get one!
• A good cordless drill (with multiple drill bits), to make the cuts in the walls, or where needed.

True story: My company used to use lead pipes to make holes. While it’s cheap. It’s horrible looking, messy, and very unprofessional!!

• A Cable fishing rod, to help with the cable drop while working between the walls.
• A ladder. Unless you can fly.
• A Network Cable tester to check the if the electricity is flowing correctly, wires are not mixed up, and if there are any shorts in the line.

Cable Tester

• Toner and Probe (Or ‘Fox and Hound’, though not be confused with the Disney 1981 movie). Not a necessity unless you have a bunch of unmarked wires in the sever room and can’t find where the cable leads to.

That’s my ‘building network toolkit’.  I’d love to hear what you would add to the list, or what you use!

One thing I always look for when buying a box of CAT5e/6 cable, is the quality of the wire itself. I know tech’s that cable a lot and always ‘buy X brand over Y brand’. But let’s be honest, just because a guy likes Burger King over McDonald’s, doesn’t mean that the BK Whopper on occasion won’t taste like that 3-week old Tuna Sandwich you decided to have for lunch. Cable, like any other technology, is manufactured in mass quantities, and is bound to occasionally have a bad batch.

So a quick thing that I do at the store when I buy cable (and it only takes 2 seconds) is to check the cable to see if it’s brittle.

The outer jacket is pretty easy to determine if it’s too brittle (slight bend causes it to almost snap at a 45 degree angle), however, for the wires themselves, physically ‘fan out and smooth’ the wires as if you’re about to push them into the RJ-45 plug. If they snap in half, that’s a good indication that quality is poor.

Twisted-Pair Patch Cable

9/10 the cable may will probably be alright, but it takes 2 seconds to check, and it could save you a lot of heartache when your trying to make your own network cables.

If you ever find yourself in a spot where you have to organize an office building, and don’t have a clear layout where things need to be placed; here is a few pointers on organizing an office building:

1. Know what rooms will be used for what purpose. This will make it much easier to put the proper items in their proper place the first time, and not have to rearrange later.
2. Do a ‘general’ clean up. Put everything away near or in the room it is designated for. If the Accounting department needs three desks, put three desks at that general location. Don’t rearrange furniture just yet, but at least put what you need in each room, that way you can see what exactly you may be missing.
3. Once everything is in the room, get whomever is in charge of that department (or spearheading the layout planning), to look it over. It’s important that you take the time to discuss the layout as what outlets, network access receptacles, etc may change where the furniture and items are placed in the room.
4. Start moving all the larger items around to their places to get a feel for the room. Envision what the place will look like when all components are in place. Make sure that every workstation or device will be able to access whatever resource it needs from the location it is in.
5. If you’re cabling a new place as well, it’s probably not best to start ‘cleaning’ everything yet, as you probably will be spending time on ladders and maneuvering in the ceiling.
6. Know how to properly dispose of any hazardous materials. Some containers, components, and the like may need to be disposed of in a certain way. While it may not be your problem, it will be for someone else. Be considerate and take that extra time in disposing.