Ethernet wire and termination:
Ethernet utilizes twisted pair cables or fibre for the physical layer of a Ethernet Computer Network – the linking of physical devices.
Cables for Ethernet may be wired to either the T568A or T568B termination standards at both ends of the cable. Since these standards differ only in that they swap the positions of the two pairs used for transmitting and receiving, a cable with T568A wiring at one end and T568B wiring at the other results in a crossover cable. Ensure that both side of the cable use the same standard unless you wish to make a cross over cable.
Twisted pair cable is used as it is a balanced line which greatly reduces the effect of line noise.
Twisted pair cable comes in many types used for a variety of applications, it is important to note that this wire needs to follow several standards of which the singular is Cat, currently Cat5 and Cat 6 are common. The categories of Cat cable are further defined by class, Cat5 is rated for fast ethernet whereas Cat5e is rated for gigabit ethernet. The class also defines the length of cable that can be used to achieve the rated transmission speed which is often a “guaranteed to travel” length of 100m. Cat6 cable may be used to transmit 10Gbps at 37 meters whereas Cat6e can be used for up to 100 meters.
Twisted pair is made from solid 24AWG copper, copper cladded (CCA cable is not approved by any regulatory body, it is much more cost effective but fails to deliver) and stranded copper cable.
Stranded copper is more flexible and is used for patching whereby short distances between devices in racks or network devices plugged into wall sockets (Keystone). Stranded copper should not be used for long distances, keystones or fixed installations.
RJ45 (Register Jack) – 45 (the number given by the approval body), this does not relate to type or class but rather size of plug and strands of wire and come in various types – do match cable and RJ, it is not acceptable to use a RJ other than the wire spec as the RJ has been designed for a different thickness of cable and class.
- Standard – 8 position, 8 connections no shield
- Shielded – this has a metal outer for the braided or ESD wire.
- Ruggedised – Hi reliability for harsh conditions.
- Through pass – this requires a through pass crimper (Eazy Crimp), this allows the strands to pass through the head and ensures that all strands are crimped. The crimper automatically cuts off the access wire.
Cat6 plugs use an additional plastic string core, in the cable to keep the twisted pairs apart and in the plug to further diminish crosstalk.
It is advisable to use a boot to cover the cable and plug connection point, however some boots do not perform well and make unplugging the cable difficult and possibly do not allow the RJ to seat properly in the socket – take care to ensure that the plug is seated and the connection is solid.
Ethernet Tools:
A wire stripper designed to trim around the sheath should be used to make a clean straight cut – do adjust the blade so that it does not damage the coating of the individual wires. Trim in a way that the stripper doesn’t dig into the cable.
A RJ crimper, should lock until the crimp has reached the correct depth and pressure, do crimp twice and again by pushing the RJ slightly back. When inspecting the plug note that all pins have been pushed down and are straight, also check that the cable inside is all the way in and that the sheath is held down by the notch. The cutting blade is good for a straight cut once the wires have been correctly aligned but usually not suitable for striping the sheath. The crimper is also able to crimp smaller RJ’s like the common 4 or 6 pin types used in analogue telephones.
A pass through or Eazy Crimper allows the wires to pass through the plug and cuts the access when crimping, this ensures a better connection. I personally have not used one and for now remain skeptical.
A Krone punch down tool is used for terminating RJ patch panels and Keystones (wall plugs).
It is a blade with a clicking mechanism that seats the wire into a wire slot. Take care to line up the tool, use a stable surface and guide the wire so that the access can be trimmed.
Cable Tester, the simplest type just ensures that there is a connection between the wires, it assumes that the cable follows the same wiring standard on both ends, if a crossover is connected then lights will alternate to show that there is a crossover present. More advanced testers will test for PoE (Power over Ethernet) whilst high end cable testers will show distance, cable quality and even if there are bends and interference. If a high end tester is not available a network engineer will commonly use a data transmission test to establish if all sent data is received.
In the unlikely event that a cable has to be identified a tone probe is used.
Cable tests cannot be conducted when connected to a power source or switch (unless a computer is used to test packet drops)
Video Demonstration:
Networked Devices:
Ethernet, Fibre and Wi-Fi are common technologies used for computer networks, they are the physical layer of signal transmission between devices (point to point). Among networked devices (anything that has a network plug for the purpose of communication) are switches which are used to connect devices together – commonly in a star or bus topology, bus is not recommended as this would lead to congestion unless it is a managed switch which then simply mitigates the bottleneck by prioritising traffic. Ethernet can utilise a ring topology, a correctly set up managed switch is required for this otherwise there will be packet collision (broadcast storm) which would cause failure. Interestingly a loop in a switch or ring topology may appear to work when testing the network, this is short lived as soon as there are several devices communicating.Fiber reticulation depends on the distribution method.
- Manageable switch: As the name suggests, a manageable switch has a console port and an IP address that can be assigned and configured. A manageable switch may also have a graphical interface that can be reached via its address.
- Unmanageable switch: An unmanageable switch is a switch that cannot be configured as there is no console port; hence it is not possible to assign an IP address.
- Smart Switch: This switch connects devices in an organization’s internal LAN (Local Area Network). This switch allocates bandwidth so that data packets do not overlap in a network.
- PoE Switch: This type of switch which is not necessarily smart or managed and are used in PoE (Power over Ethernet). A PoE switch delivers power to the connected device and simplifies the cabling connections. Note that there are several standards that deal with Voltage, Power delivery and wires used. A passive injector simply adds power to the transmission line. The difference in Gigabit and Fast Ethernet PoE is that Gigabit uses all twisted pairs whereas fast does not use the blue and brown pair.
Purposes of switches:
Simple switches connect devices whereas managed and smart switches manage traffic.
A smart switch has limited capability although it can be expected that some ports (jacks – female plug) have a purpose other than connecting devices which would make it a dedicated port.
A dedicated port has a special function which could prevent it from communicating with other ports, common uses are:
- Uplink, from one switch to the next switch – bus topology.
- Isolated, segregation of networks.
- VLAN, this is a technology that allows more than one network to operate on the same physical port, devices are segregated and directed as configured.
Essentially devices have to be plugged into the correct port, ports that are part of a group are bridged ports so any port that is part of a bridge has usually got the same function. A WAN port may be part of a bridge, this is the dedicated port that will provide internet to that bridge.
WAN (Wide Area Network), are ports, that are dedicated for the purpose of routing traffic to and from the internet, one could argue that a router is not a exclusively a device that routes traffic to and from a WAN port to a LAN as routers have many functions, it is however safe to assume that a of the shelf router (often called Wi-FI router as most of them have LAN ports and WiFi) is a simple device that does just that – Route from WAN to LAN. Note that Wi-FI is just a physical layer so it could be used to receive internet but commonly used as a LAN distribution method.
A WAN is a Wide Area Network, the largest WAN is the internet, A Metro LAN is simply a Computer Network that stretches over a longer distance, an important principal is that just because you are connected to a Network does not mean that the network has internet access, hence Metro LAN (MLAN) may simply be a point to point between 2 buildings connecting a business to a branch.
A modem is a device that facilitates a connection to the internet, if this is a separate device then it would get plugged into the WAN port.
Other networked devices include Printers, Sensors (IoT devices) access control, HVAC, CCTV, Smart Displays, Computers and Servers, note that servers are computers that offer a service, servers don’t have to be powerful and expensive if they have a small job to do, some hubs and tiny computers are just good enough for your home and smart phone to function and the only time the internet is required is to get the weather report and turn on devices remotely.
Glossary:
VPN
Jack = female
DHCP
Static IP
Modem
Router
Wi-FI
Mesh
WAN
LAN
Metro
Layer
Topology
Communication protocol
URL
GUI
Information bellow contribution to wikiHow https://www.wikihow.com/Crimp-Rj45
Strip away a portion of the sheath, untangle and arrange the wires in the correct order, fit them into the connector, and use the crimping part of your tool to squeeze the small pins into the wires and secure the connector.
Strip the cable back 25 mm from the end. Insert the cable into the stripper section of the tool and squeeze it tight. Then, rotate the crimping tool around the cable in a smooth and even motion to create a clean cut. Keep the tool clamped and pull away towards the end of the wire to remove the sheathing.[1]
- The stripping section is a round hole near the handle of the tool.
- The sheathing should come off cleanly, leaving the wires exposed.
Untwist and straighten the wires inside of the cable. Inside of the cable you’ll see a bunch of smaller wires twisted together. Separate the twisted wires and straighten them out so they’re easier to sort into the right order.[2]
- Cut off the small plastic wire separator or core so it’s out of the way.
- Don’t cut off or remove any of the wires or you won’t be able to crimp them into the connector.
Arrange the wires into the right order. Use your fingers to put the wires in the correct order so they can be properly crimped. The proper sequence is as follows from left to right: Orange/White, Orange, Green/White, Blue, Blue/White, Green, Brown/White, Brown.[3]
- There are 8 wires in total that need to be arranged in the right sequence.
- Note that the wires labeled Orange/White or Brown/White indicate the small wires that have 2 colors.
Cut the wires into an even line 1⁄2 inch (13 mm) from sheathing. Hold the wires with your thumb and index finger to keep them in order. Then, use the cutting section of the crimping tool to cut them into an even line.[4]
- The cutting section of the tool will resemble wire cutters.
- The wires must be in an even line to be crimped into the RJ-45 connector properly. If you cut them in an uneven line, move further down the wires and cut them again.
Insert the wires into the RJ-45 connector. Hold the RJ-45 connector so the clip is on the underside and the small metal pins are facing up. Insert the cable into the connector so that each of the small wires fits into the small grooves in the connector.[5]
- The sheathing of the cable should fit just inside of the connector so it’s past the base.
- If any of the small wires bend or don’t fit into a groove correctly, take the cable out and straighten the wires with your fingers before trying again.
- The wires must be inserted in the correct order and each wire must fit into a groove before you crimp the connector.
Stick the connector into the crimping part of the tool and squeeze twice. Insert the connector in the crimping section of the tool until it can’t fit any further. Squeeze the handles to crimp the connector and secure the wires. Release the handles, then squeeze the tool again to make sure all of the pins are pushed down.
- The crimping tool pushes small pins in the grooves down onto the wires to hold and connect them to the RJ-45 connector.
Remove the cable from the tool and check that all of the pins are down. Take the connector out of the tool and look at the pins to see that they’re all pushed down in an even line. Lightly tug at the connector to make sure it’s attached to the cable.
- If any of the pins aren’t pushed down, put the wire back into the crimping tool and crimp it again.