How to terminate a network cable

Terminating of a network cable be it cross over or straight line is one of the good practices every network engineer should know. However, this involves attaching a connector to the end of the cable to allow it to plug into a network device such as printer scanner and many others.

In addition, during this process, the network administrator must make sure all cables are well cut off and avoid wrong positioning and mismatching of the colour coding.

Items or tools needed:

The following are needed when during the aforementioned process:
1. The network cable, that is CAT5e, CAT6 or even CAT7
2. The normal RJ-45 connector (8P8C) are also needed
3. The crimping tool
4. Wire stripper
5. Cable tester(this could be an optional item)
Step by step instructions
1. Prepare your cable: make sure the cable is cut to the desired length using the wire cutters or even a cable cutter
2. Striping the insulation: A good network engineer must take into consideration the stripper is used to remove about 1 to 2 inches of the outer insulation from the cable, exposing the inner wires
3. Separation of the wires: gently separate the four twisted pairs of wires, however, be aware that there are 8wires in total.
4. Untwisting the pairs: This stage requires a gentle action taking care not to damage he cables.
5. Arrangement of the colours or the wires: Most of us don’t take time to do the right arrangement thus causing unnecessary damage to the cable leading to error in transmission.

Best Arrangement:

• Always consider White/Orange(TX+)

• Colour code Orange (TX-) as number 2

• Number three takes, White/Green (RX+)

• Next color is Green that is RX-

• White/Blue (TX+/RX+)

• Blue (TX-/RX-)

• White/Brown(TX+/RX+)

• Brown (TX-/RX-)

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