How to crimp an Internet cable at home: crimping a network wire with a crimper and a screwdriver

The need to crimp an Internet cable at home may appear for various reasons, for example, repairing an old wire. Using twisted pair, you can connect a PC to a router or create a home local network. Almost all modern TVs have the Smart TV function and for its operation, an Internet connection is also required, carried out using a twisted pair. This is a straightforward process, but a few points need to be clarified.

Standards and categories

Twisted pair is a type of network wire. Due to its low cost and ease of installation, it has found wide application in creating local networks and connecting to the Internet. Today there are three standards for cable shielding. The simplest and cheapest is UPT. Since it is not shielded, it is highly sensitive to electromagnetic radiation.

The more advanced standard is FTP. This wire contains a common screening mesh for all twisted pairs. The most protected from electromagnetic radiation is the STP standard, in which each pair of cores has a shield. In addition, there is a general protective braid in the wire.

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Internet cables are classified according to their bandwidth. Today there are the following categories of network wire:

• Cat 5 - capable of transmitting information at a speed of 100 Mbps with an operating frequency of 100 MHz.
• Cat 5e - Frequency increased to 125 MHz, and bandwidth is 1 Gbps.
• Cat 6, Cat 6a - the operating frequencies of the wires are 250 and 500 MHz, respectively, and they are capable of transmitting information at speeds up to 10 Gbit / s.
• Cat 7, Cat 7a - have a maximum operating rate of up to 600 and 1200 MHz, respectively, and are capable of providing information exchange at speeds up to 100 Gbps.

For home use, FTP Cat 5e is the best choice. It has good protection against magnetic radiation and is capable of transmitting information at a maximum speed of 1 Gbps.

Carrying out works

Crimping or crimping an internet cable is the process of connecting a twisted pair cable to an RJ 45 connector. It is quite simple, but requires some attention. If the user has a special tool, then there should be no problems. Please remember that the RJ 45 internet cable connector is disposable. The need for crimping a twisted pair can arise in different situations:

• Broken connector on existing cable.
• It is planned to create a new local network.
• You need to connect your PC to a router and so on.

Now two types of crimping are used, differing in the field of application and pinout of wires.

Hub computer or direct

This type of crimping is used when the cable is planned to be used to connect two different devices. This can be, for example, a PC and a router. It got its name due to the fact that the wires in the connectors are arranged in the same order.

Simply put, the connectors on each side of the wires are connected to pins 1 through 8 as follows:

• White-orange.
• Orange.
• White-green.
• Blue.
• White and blue.
• Green.
• White-brown.
• Brown.

As a result, it is possible to achieve the exchange of information at a speed of up to 1 Gbit / s. It should also be remembered that for some providers that distribute the Internet at a speed of less than 100 Mbit / s, only contacts 1 to 3 and 6 are used. When the need to crimp the wire for the Internet appeared due to the failure of the old one, carried out by the provider's specialists, then you should first visually examine this patch cord. If only two pairs of wires were involved in it, and after the repair all 4 were crimped, then the connection speed will not increase from this. It is inappropriate to complicate the task by crimping excess pairs.

Computer-to-computer or crossover

This type of crimping is used to connect two identical devices, for example a PC-PC. In it, the pinout of one connector corresponds to a direct connection, and the second is crimped in the reverse order.

As for the crimping process itself, then for the work it is worth using a special tool - a crimper. This recommendation is related to several factors:

• Convenience of work - the pliers are extremely easy to operate and allow you to immediately crimp all contacts.
• Save time - with the help of a crimper, you can perform a full range of work - crimp the RJ 45 and RJ 11 connectors, as well as remove the insulating layer from the wires.
• Safety - using the pliers, the user cannot harm himself.

If you don't have a special tool at hand, you can use a screwdriver. It is more difficult to work with this tool, since each wire has to be crimped separately. The algorithm of actions when using any of these tools is practically the same, and you need to crimp the Internet cable as follows:

• The outer protective layer is removed from the cable. In this case, the length of the stripped wire must correspond to the size of the connector.
• First, all the veins must be untangled, since they are twisted in pairs. If they differ in length, then they must be adjusted to the same size.
• The conductors are laid out in the desired sequence, corresponding to the type of the selected crimping.
• The wires fit neatly into the connector and all that remains is to crimp them.

If a crimper is used for this, then the connector must be placed in the appropriate socket and the handles must be firmly squeezed. In the case of a screwdriver, you have to carefully crimp each wiring, pressing the terminals one by one until it stops. After completing all the work, you need to check the functionality of the cable. The crimping process is simple, especially if you use special pliers. With the help of a screwdriver, it is somewhat more difficult to carry out the operation, but it is quite possible.