Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Before you make a “real” cable of any length, you should practice on a short length of
cable.8P8C(RJ-45)connectorsandbulkcablearecheap;networkfailuresarenot.Follow
these steps for creating your own twisted-pair cables:
1.
Determine how long your cable should be. You should allow adequate slack for mov-
ing the computer and for avoiding strong interference sources. Keep the maximum
distances for UTP cables of about 100 meters in mind.
2.
Roll out the appropriate length of cable.
3.
Cut the cable cleanly from the box of wire.
4.
Use the wire stripper to strip only the insulation jacket off the cable, exposing the TP
wires (see
Figure 17.10
)
; you'll need to rotate the wire about one and a quarter turns
to strip away all the jacket. If you turn it too far, you'll damage the wires inside the
cable.
Figure 17.10
Carefully strip the cable jacket away to expose the four wire pairs.
5.
ChecktheouterjacketandinnerTPwiresfornicks;adjustthestrippertool,andrepeat
steps 3 and 4 if you see damage.
6.
As shown in
Figure 17.11
,
arrange the wires according to the EIA 568B standard.
This arrangement is listed previously, in the section “
TP Wiring Standards
.”
Figure 17.11
Arrange the wire pairs for insertion into the 8P8C (RJ-45) connector according to your
chosen scheme (EIA 568B, for instance).
