Cat5e Termination and Cat6 Termination with RJ45 Keystone Jacks

Now Cat5e and Cat6 cables are good choices for the new network cabling systems. If you are running the two standard cable technologies at home or office, it is very necessary that you terminate the Cat5e, Cat6 cables with the RJ45 keystone jacks for them. In case that some of you are still not so familiar with how to terminate the Cat6 or Cat5e network Ethernet cable with a modular jack, I would like to take readers through all the Cat5e termination and installation steps and general information that should be used to complete this tedious but important task.

What Is RJ45 Modular Jack?

RJ45 modular jack is one kind of the keystone jacks that used for networking. The RJ45 modular jack provides an excellent method of bringing network connections into any room and it fit for all the standard keystone jack network faceplate.

T568A and T568B are the two wiring standards for an 8-position modular connector, permitted under the TIA/EIA-568-A wiring standards document. The only difference between T568A and T568B is that the pairs two and three (orange and green wire pairs) are interchanged. T568B is very common in the USA. In the RJ45 keystone jacks, both T568A and T568B wiring schemes are labeled. For more information on T568A and T568B wiring, please read What’s the Difference Between T568A and T568B Wiring Standards?

cat5e termination

 

Take the Cat5e patch cable termination steps, for example, Cat6 cable follows the same way.

Cat5e Termination Steps

1. Cut the Cat5e cable with a cable stripper. Trim the cable about 3/4 to 1 inch into the jacket, making sure that you haven’t damaged the conductors inside. Remove the cut jacket by simply pulling it off.

2. Separate the twisted wire pairs from each other; Untangle the scrap piece of jacket downwards on each pair of wires and then fan out all four twisted pairs.

3. Remove the jack’s protective cap. You will see there are wire configurations printed near the termination slots. If you are given a choice between “A” and “B” configurations, choose whichever you are currently using.

4. Match up the colored wires with the corresponding color codes on the keystone jack by placing all 8 wires into the center of the jack 8 wires into the center of the jack.

5. Use a punch down tool to punch the wires down into the blades of the keystone jack. To punch down each wire, press down on the punch down tool until you hear a loud click and simultaneous, metallic-sounding “ping”. In this step, it is very important to make sure that the blade of the punch down tool is facing the outside of the Cat 5e Modular Jack otherwise it will cut the wires insides.

6. Inspect each termination slot along the outer edge of the jack; each wire should be firmly anchored at the bottom of its slot, and the wires’ copper conductors will be visible.

7. Snap the header cover down over the connector.

8. If you care about the connection quality of your termination, you can use the network cable tester have a test over the terminated cables.

9. After you have finished the termination for the Cat5e cable with the RJ45 keystone jack, the last thing left is to assemble the terminated modular jacks with the wall network faceplate and fixed them in the wall.

Conclusion

As you can see, steps for Cat5e termination the network Ethernet cables is simple, but every single step should be handled with carefulness, otherwise, it will cause problems down the road. This guide can be used for reference for your Cat5e termination practice by your own hands. If you are interested in the involved tools or materials in the whole termination and installation steps such as the Cat 5e Modular Jack, cable stripper, punch down tools, Cat5e Ethernet cables and more, you can go to purchase at www.fs.com, you may get a big surprise on the price and qualities.

Related Articles:
Select Best Ethernet Cable (Cat5/5e/6/6a) for Your Network
Punch Down Tools for Network Cabling
Home Ethernet Wiring Guide: How to Get a Wired Home Network?

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