Making Ethernet Cable = Nightmare!!

[Darth_Spud]

Hi all,

I’m making some CAT 5 leads for work, as I have to put some PC’s in a room that was previously not used. I ran a wire from our switch upstairs to a small switch in the room. My problem is this, when crimping the connectors on why do the little copper pins always miss some of the wires, its like they get pushed to the side by the crimping tool. It’s so annoying as I’ve used about 4 connectors so far on 1 end of the wire. The switch in the room shows a connection but the light is orange indicating that the signal is week (only 10Mbps) I haven’t connected any PC’s to this switch yet could it be orange because no data is travelling through it?

Also is there a trick to the crimping, as I’m pretty stringent when straitening the wires out and cutting. It seems it’s just the crimping stage that’s the problem.

PS the crimping tool I’m using is…
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?...=16m8#overview

Any help would be extremely appreciated

Thank You

[burble]

As long as the wires are all the same length when cut and put into the connector straight then you shouldn't have any problem.

[directhex]

cheap connectors or wire can cause this. the crimp tool is the only bit that won't be the problem

[Jay]

hmm

Make sure they are pushed all the way to the end. I have done miles and miles of CAT5 and can do it with my eyes closed, at first though.... nightmare, real horrible job.

[peterb]

On the basis of you get what you pay for... (professional grade crimping tools with removeable dies cost £70/80 upwards) however that isn't much help..

So the important thing is to make sure that the cable ends are prepared properly. You need to strip back the sheath the right amount, arrange the cores in the right order (the difficult bit there is the two that crossover, then trim the emds of the wires to the same length. Finally insert the cable into the RJ45 plug and (this is the critical nbit) make sure that all the conductors go right to the end of the plug. You need to inspect that critically - use a magnifying glass if you have to. Then make the crimp. If it still fails, you are either not getting the cables to the end, using cheap quality plugs, or the crimping tool is faulty. Using a professional grade tool, Ampex RJ45 plugs and the above technique, I have had about 3 failures in over 300 connections.

For a couple of cables you are probably better off buying them ready made.

You won't get any indication on the lights on the switch unless the connection is good. The orange light usually indicates a connection at 10Mb/s and is nothing to do with signal strength. It just indicates that the device at the other end is only capable of 10Mb/s transmission speed. If both devices are 100Mb/s capable you should get a green at both ends.

cheap connectors or wire can cause this. the crimp tool is the only bit that won't be the problem

Unless the tool is damaged/defective and not pushing all the pins down equally.

[Darth_Spud]

If I’m getting a connection (albeit a week 1 indicated by the orange light) could this be because no PC’s are connected to the switch in this room?

[burble]

Assuming the switch you're linking to is 100Mbit, then no. No matter if you have a PC active or not, the two switches should link at 100Mbit.

[Darth_Spud]

Guy’s thanks very much for the help! I’ts the switch upstairs that’s the problem. We have 2 switches. 1 of them runs at 100Mbps and the other at 10Mbps. This switch was put in when the company first started. As you can guess I’m now ordering a new switch! Both ends are now green.

Again thank you all, as ever Hexus is the place to be.

[directhex]

Guy’s thanks very much for the help! I’ts the switch upstairs that’s the problem. We have 2 switches. 1 of them runs at 100Mbps and the other at 10Mbps. This switch was put in when the company first started. As you can guess I’m now ordering a new switch! Both ends are now green.

Again thank you all, as ever Hexus is the place to be.

that shouldn't matter - switches operate each port at the best speed it can

a hub, on the other hand, will run at the lowest common denominator

and nobody would use a hub for an office in this day & age, right? O_o