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Cable Making

C

copeland3300

Gawd
Joined
Jan 8, 2003
Messages
640
I was recently reading something about how to make network cable, and I thought to myself "Does it really matter what order (color) you setup the wires in?" I mean, The computer doesn't care what color the cables inside the plug are, it just cases the they are the same at both ends. So if that's the case, then why couldn't the order go

G WG B WB O WO Br WBr

instead of

WG G WO B WB O WBr Br

which is what the order is stated as here
 
yeah, you're right. the only important thing as far as getting the device to work is lining all the pins up correctly:

sends to receives, receives to sends... and in many cases, the grounds as well.

those colorcodes you found are a standard. standardization makes it easy for migrating to new technologies and also compliance between different companies, etc....

....but in your case, standardization allows you to remember the color code, and make all cables conform to it, so you don't need to test each cable to see which type it is..... can also be useful in transition between personel, etc.
 
Nope you could get by with your own made up order but it's always good to adhere to standards. In this case just to know how to do it and identify a bad cable...and for troubleshooting purposes.
 
Originally posted by copeland3300
I was recently reading something about how to make network cable, and I thought to myself "Does it really matter what order (color) you setup the wires in?" I mean, The computer doesn't care what color the cables inside the plug are, it just cases the they are the same at both ends. So if that's the case, then why couldn't the order go

G WG B WB O WO Br WBr

instead of

WG G WO B WB O WBr Br

which is what the order is stated as here
Click to expand...

true, never thought of this. I hate making cables because it is a pain to place them in that standard order. From now on, I’ll make my own standard, the easiest way without much rearranging :p.
 
Here is how I see it, take it for what its worth.
Cat 5 is twisted pair cableing. The whole theory behind twisted pair, is for the integrity of the signal to stay intact all the way to where its supposed to go. Twisted pair is a shielding, in and of itself. By not following the correct wire order, you take the risk of signals being canceled out by other signals traveling down the same wire.
Not worth the risk, for the amount of time it MAY save by putting them in any old order.
Also, what if over time, one of your end breaks, then you need to go look at the other end to see how it is wired. Might not sound like a big deal, but what if that other end is not easily accesible any more, like its in the attic, buried under 3 years worth of crap!

just my .02 :)
 
Haha...I was making cables last night and thought about this same thing afterwards. I just make my cables in the standard format just to be "normal".
 
Crosshairs is right. The standards were created by very smart engineers for a reason. Also, using a standard is a good thing when it comes to troubleshooting. In all my networks I use 568-B for all my straight-through cabling. This way when I come across a 568-A end I automatically know that that cable is a crossover. Believe me, this simple example is invaluable to people (like me) who's day-to-day job is dealing with issues when something funky goes down.
 
There is plenty good reason why one should stick with a standard that has already been established. Say, for instance, I used my own standard at my place of business whenever I made patch cables. Well, if I ever leave the company or if somebody else comes in to do contract networking work, they are pretty much screwed if they do not know my standard. However, most everybody used T568B as their standard for CAT5 cabling. Therefore, the next network admin that replaces you if you leave your job will have no problem picking up where you left off as far as cabling is concerned.

However, if all you are concerned about if your own home network, then by all means use your own standard. Just make sure you are able to remember it the next time you need to troubleshoot or add connections.
 
Originally posted by Crosshairs
Here is how I see it, take it for what its worth.
Cat 5 is twisted pair cableing. The whole theory behind twisted pair, is for the integrity of the signal to stay intact all the way to where its supposed to go. Twisted pair is a shielding, in and of itself. By not following the correct wire order, you take the risk of signals being canceled out by other signals traveling down the same wire.
Not worth the risk, for the amount of time it MAY save by putting them in any old order.
Also, what if over time, one of your end breaks, then you need to go look at the other end to see how it is wired. Might not sound like a big deal, but what if that other end is not easily accesible any more, like its in the attic, buried under 3 years worth of crap!

just my .02 :)
Click to expand...

Yep ;) ! The pin-out is very important coz of the way the pairs shield each other, and for trouble shooting. something else interesting is that this (WG G WO B WB O WBr Br) is not actually the way a pin out is defined when you're talking pairs. You actually start with the two centre pins (4 and 5), which is the same for 2pin plugs, 4 pin plugs 6 pin plugs and 8 pin plugs, and in most cases the first pair is blue. there is even a + and - for each pair. the next two pair splits onto pin (3 and 6) outside (4 and 5) which in this case is the orange pair, followed lastly by the 2 remaining pairs which go together on each side (pin 1 and 2 then 7 and 8 - can't remember why). if you look at a cross over cable you'll notice that orange and green pairs are swapped, but the blue and brown are not. if the pin out was incorrect, this would get VERY confusing. check out a 4 or 6 pin phone cable and you should notice (depending on the colours) that the 2 inside pins form one pair, and the two outside form the second pair, which is the same as a lan cable, but with less pairs. This all forms a standard which may sound hell confusing but makes perfect sence when you work with it every day. :)
 
A few years ago i was under the impression it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference... So long as it's a "straight through cable" i.e. pine 1 - 8 are identical on both ends...

After days of trying to troubleshoot problems such as 90% packet loss, 10k/sec LAN transfer speeds and numerous other painstaking problems it turned out to be due to "crosstalk". Hence wiring according to the STANDARD a/b fixed all the problems!

Moral of the story... RTFM?! :rolleyes:
 
true, never thought of this. I hate making cables because it is a pain to place them in that standard order. From now on, I’ll make my own standard, the easiest way without much rearranging .
Click to expand...

Its not really hard to place them in the right order. Just make 5-6 cables and it gets alot easier. You might want to buy a large bag of connectors though if you are expirementing. The color code is pretty easy to memorize the way it is, just might take a few tries to get right.
 
I make a lot of cables and do a lot of cabling work. While it's true that as long as the colors are the same on both sides the cable *may* work, don't do it. Just stick to either T568A or B depending on the networks you work on. I always use B because I find that most everything is wired to the B standard.
I have had lots of practice and now can make a patch cable in about 2 minutes at the most.
Jeff
 
Anybody want to get some kind of quote together for me as to why the standards so important?

Yes, This is Martin.... I'm going through my ref log right now ;)
 
Originally posted by farkedup
Anybody want to get some kind of quote together for me as to why the standards so important?

Yes, This is Martin.... I'm going through my ref log right now ;)
Click to expand...

what you mean by that? something like, and i quote, "the standard is important because [insert a reason here]".
 
The main thing you need to remember about network cables is the transmit line needs to be a pair and the receive line needs to be a pair. 1 and 2 need to be a pair and 3 and 6 need to be a pair. It doesn't matter which pair it is and it doesn't matter what the other pins are(at least for 10/100BaseT).
 
Point of having the wires run in a certain order is that its a standard so if any one looks at you wiring they can folow a standard not something you make up. I hate redoing another yahoo's poor wiring job.
 
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