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Which of the following tools should be used to attach an RJ-45 connector to a twisted-pair Ethernet cable?-Wire cutters-Cable stripper-Needle-nose pliers -Crimper
Which of the following tools should be used to remove electrical insulation covers from electric wires?-Needle-nose pliers-Crimper-Snips -Cable stripper
Which of the following tools should be used to test power supply voltage output?-Torx screwdriver-Loopback plug-Toner and probe kit -Multimeter
Which of the following tools should be used to locate a cable in a cabling bundle, or to trace individual wires in a cable?-Spectrum analyzer-Toner and probe kit-Time-Domain Reflectometer (TDR) -Multimeter
What is the function of a Time-Domain Reflectometer (TDR)?-Finding breaks in copper network cables-Locating the beginning and the end of a cable in a cabling bundle-Checking network installation for compliance with TIA or ISO standards -Finding breaks in fiber-optic network cables
Finding breaks in copper network cables
An Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer (OTDR) is a type of specialized cable tester that locates faults and breaks in fiber-optic cabling. True or False?
Which of the following tools is used to verify that the electrical connections of wires in a cable are correct?-Loopback plug-Tone generator-Cable tester -Multimeter
When troubleshooting problems with a Network Interface Card (NIC), which of the following tools can be used to test connector pins on the NIC's port?-Tone generator and probe-Cable tester-Multimeter -Loopback plug
Which of the following tools is used to attach network cables to a patch panel?-Cable crimper-Punchdown tool-Cable certifier -Needle-nose pliers
Which of the following is a type of diagnostic tool used for measuring the strength of a wireless signal?-Tone generator-Multimeter-Wi-Fi analyzer -Network mapper
If you'll be installing or maintaining a Local Area Network (LAN), one of the most important things for you to know is how to terminate Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 and newer network cables with RJ45 connectors. Rely on our step-by-step guide to take you through your project.
STEP 1Using a Crimping Tool, trim the end of the cable you're terminating, to ensure that the ends of the conducting wires are even.
STEP 3Separate the 4 twisted wire pairs from each other, and then unwind each pair, so that you end up with 8 individual wires. Flatten the wires out as much as possible, since they'll need to be very straight for proper insertion into the connector.
Holding the cable with the wire ends facing away from you. Moving from left to right, arrange the wires in a flat, side-by-side ribbon formation, placing them in the following order: white/orange, solid orange, white/green, solid blue, white/blue, solid green, white/brown, solid brown.
STEP 5Holding the RJ45 connector so that its pins are facing away from you and the plug-clip side is facing down, carefully insert the flattened, arranged wires into the connector, pushing through until the wire ends emerge from the pins. For strength of connection, also push as much of the cable jacket as possible into the connector.
STEP 6Check to make sure that the wire ends coming out of the connector's pin side are in the correct order; if not, remove them from the connector, rearrange into proper formation, and re-insert. Remember, once the connector is crimped onto the cable, it's permanent. If you realize that a mistake has been made in wire order after termination, you'll have to cut the connector off and start all over again!
STEP 7Insert the prepared connector/cable assembly into the RJ45 slot in your crimping tool. Firmly squeeze the crimper's handles together until you can't go any further. Release the handles and repeat this step to ensure a proper crimp.
If your crimper doesn't automatically trim the wire ends upon termination, carefully cut wire ends to make them as flush with the connector's surface as possible. The closer the wire ends are trimmed, the better your final plug-in connection will be.
After the first termination is complete, repeat process on the opposite end of your cable. Shop at CableOrganizer® for wires, crimping tools, wire strippers, RJ45 Connectors and other cable management items.
In this article, you’ll all about crimping ethernet cables! What is crimping an ethernet cable?Crimping an ethernet cable is the process of attaching connectors onto the ends of ethernet cables. This process is also called ‘RJ45 crimping’ because RJ45 is the name of the connectors that are used for ethernet cables, and they are what is being crimped. Why?Setting up networks involves setting up long ethernet cable connections between different devices. Instead of buying premade ethernet cables of varying lengths (e.g. 5ft, 10ft, 50ft, etc.), it’s more practical to just have a big spool of cabling that we can roll out and cut to the exact length we need. Therefore we need to be able to attach RJ45 connectors to the ends of these cut cables so that we can actually plug them in! Crimping KitHere are some tools you should have in your crimping kit! RJ45 Crimping ToolAn RJ45 crimping tool is the most essential tool. Although it’s technically possible to crimp ethernet cables without this specialized tool, it’s not very practical for crimping lots of cables. Its primary utility is to do the actual ‘crimping’ part of compressing/crimping the tiny gold pins in the RJ45 connector onto the ethernet cables. It also has blades that can be used to cut or strip wires. Cable StripperCable strippers are used to take off the protecting shielding around cables and expose the inner wires. You can also do the same thing with a simple blade or pair of scissors. The trickiest part about stripping cables is trying to avoid cutting the inner wires! RJ45 ConnectorsRJ45 connectors are required for crimping because they feature the 8 golden pins that get crimped onto the 8 wires of the ethernet cable. They are what get plugged into ethernet ports! They also feature a latch/clip that locks the ethernet cable into the port once it is plugged in. RJ45 BootsRJ45 boots can be optionally used to protect the RJ45 connector. It provides insulation and prevents the cable from being breaking easily. They have to put slipped onto the cable before you put on the RJ45 connectors though! RJ45 Cable TesterRJ45 cable testers allow you to guarantee that you did the job correctly! They have two pieces that separate from each other, and you plug each end of your crimped ethernet cable into the port on each piece. Then you turn it on and the cable tester will test the connection for all 8 pins. If there are any missing lights on any of the pins, it means that you messed up somewhere and have to restart! How to Crimp an Ethernet CableAssuming you have a crimping kit and an ethernet cable that needs to be crimped, here are all the steps! Step 0) Slip on the RJ45 boot (optional)Step 1) Strip the cable
Step 2) Organize the wiresIn this step, you’ll be taking the 8 colored wires inside the ethernet cable and putting them into the correct ordering of colors. NOTEThis is the hardest part of crimping! The wires are small and are hard to control. Take your time and make sure you do this step correctly! Otherwise you might have to go back and restart. Step 2.1) Untwist the wiresThere should be 4 pairs of wires: green, brown, orange, and blue. Each pair has a solid-colored wire and a striped-colored wire. Untwist these pairs and separate them into the 8 wires. Step 2.2) Straighten out wiresAfter untwisting the wires, they are probably still kinked and look like they want to be twisted. In this step, you should carefully grab all the wires and try to straighten them out by pulling on them. This will prevent the wires from moving around later on. WARNING Don’t break off the wires! Step 2.3) Lay out wires in orderWith your straightened out wires, put them into the correct order! Make sure that the wires are all flat and in line with each other. The ordering for these wires is:
TIP After laying them out in order, straighten them out again as a group! This will help keep the wires together. Step 2.4) Trim the wiresTrim the wires evenly to about 1/2 inch in length using scissors or the blade of your crimping tool. You want to make sure you have enough room for the wires to reach the end of the RJ45 connector. But also try to have room for the shielding of the cable to be inserted into the connector too. TIP You can put the wires side-by-side to the RJ45 connector to see how long you should cut it. Look at the next step to see what the final product looks like. TIP If you don’t have the shielding inside of the connector, it makes it easier for the wires to snap off later, which is bad. TIP Make sure that you cut the wires evenly! Step 3) Slide wires into RJ45 connectorCarefully slide your 8 wires into the connector. Make sure that the clip is facing away from you! If it is really hard to slide it into the connector, you probably didn’t straighten out the wires enough in step 2.2 or 2.3. MORE INFO Inserting the wires with the clip facing away from you is the standard. However, you could technically do it in ‘reverse’ and insert the wires with the clip facing you, as long as you do it on both ends of the cable. You shouldn’t do this in practice though because others would get confused when looking at your cable. Step 4) Crimp itPush the RJ45 connector into the slot of your crimping tool for RJ45 connectors. The slot should be labeled something like “8P” for the 8-pin RJ45 connector that you’re using. In this step, you’re doing the actual ‘crimping’ part and crimping/compressing/stabbing the 8 golden pins on the RJ45 connector into the 8 colored wires. TIP Squeeze as hard as you can! You need to make sure that all 8 pins are crimped. Step 5) Test itSlide the two pieces of the tester apart and plug each of the cable ends into either piece. Turn the switch to “On” or “Slow.” If it’s working, all 8 numbers should be flashing green. If any of them are not showing green, it means something is wrong and you have to redo it! The RJ45 connector can’t be reused once it’s crimped, so you should just cut the end off and start back at step 1. If everything is green, then you’re done! If you had a cable boot, you can push the boots onto the RJ45 connector now. ResourcesWorkshop Slides
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