Student Name: ___________________________
CHABOT COLLEGE
CISCO NETWORKING ACADEMY I
3C- Patch Cable Construction Lab
Preparations
Read this entire document before you begin!
Use curriculum page 5.3.2 for reference - review this page before you begin and refer to it frequently as
you work.
Each student will work individually.
To earn credit for this lab, your cable must pass a test by the Fluke 620 LAN CableMeter.
The little bits of wire you will cut off can ruin your PC and make a mess. To prevent damage, follow these
precautions:
 Before you begin this lab, turn your PC keyboard upside-down on the table. This precaution will
prevent wire cuttings from falling into your keyboard and ruining it. Take care not to place any weight
on the keyboard; otherwise a key may activate repeatedly!
 When cutting your wires to length, put your cable end and the wire cutters in the wastebasket.
Keep them well down in the basket so the cuttings will not fly out!
Background
In this lab, you will build a Category 5 (CAT 5) Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Ethernet network patch
cable (or patch cord). This will be a 4-pair (8-wires) "straight through" cable, which means that the color of
wire on pin 1 on one end of the cable will be the same as pin 1 on the other end. Pin 2 will be the same as
pin 2 and so on. It will be wired to the TIA/EIA-568-B standard.
Your finished cable must pass these tests:
 good connections (continuity)
 correct pinouts (correct color of wire on the right pin).
The finished cable will be yours to keep.
Materials:
The instructor will provide the following materials to each student:
 One 3' length of CAT5 UTP cable
 Two CAT5 rated RJ-45 plugs
In addition, the instructor will provide the following tools to each table row for shared use by students:
 Panduit "Cyclops" cable stripper
 Amp RJ-45 Crimping tool
 Wire cutters
 Wastebasket, bag, or other container for wire cuttings
Your instructor will demonstrate use of these tools. Use them only as directed by your instructor! They are
costly and can be damaged by mishandling.
Note:
Ordinarily, patch cables are made from UTP cable with stranded conductors because it is more durable
when bent repeatedly. Solid wire is typically used for cable runs that are punched down into jacks and not
subject to frequent handling.
However, we have a bunch of solid conductor UTP on hand, and no stranded UTP, so we'll use solid wire.
It is perfectly OK to make patch cables from solid UTP so long as they are not subjected to frequent or
sharp bends.
Instructions: (read carefully!)
1
1.
Student Name: ___________________________
Strip about 1.25" of jacket off of one end of the cable using the "Cyclops" stripper as follows:
Open the stripper by pushing up against the tapered thumb rests; insert the cable; let go.
First try cutting the jacket by rotating the Cyclops in the "MIN" direction two or three times; then pull
the jacket off the end of the cable.
If the Cyclops blade doesn't penetrate sufficiently, try the "MAX" direction.
Discard the jacket tube in the wastebasket - Don't leave it lying about!
2.
Hold the 4 pairs of twisted cables tightly where jacket was cut away, then reorganize the cable pairs:
orange pair on left, brown pair on right, blue pair in center, and green pair in center behind blue pair.
3.
Hold the jacket and cable in one hand, untwist the green pair. Then untwist the blue pair, and reorder
these two pairs to reflect the T568-B wiring color scheme. Finally, untwist and reorder the remaining
wire pairs according to the color scheme. Frequently refer to the T568-B wiring reference below.
4.
Flatten, straighten, and line up the wires - this takes extra effort with solid wire, so keep at it!
Accurately lining up the wires is the secret of success.
5.
Then, using the wire cutters, trim the wires in a straight line to a bit more than 1/2" from the edge of the jacket.
As you cut, put your cable end and the wire cutters in the wastebasket.
Keep them well down in the basket so the cuttings will not fly out!
After the cut, be sure not to let go of the jacket and the wires, which are now in order.
6.
Place an RJ-45 plug on the end of the cable, with the prong on the underside and the orange pair at the
left side of the connector.
7.
Gently start pushing the wires into the plug. If the wires don't slide in, shift them a bit until they do.
Keep pushing firmly until you can see the ends of the wires have reached the end of the plug.
Look to make sure all the wires are in the correct order.
Also make sure the end of the jacket is inside the plug and all wires are in the correct order. If the
jacket is not inside the plug, it will not be properly strain relieved and will eventually cause problems.
8.
When everything is correct, insert the wire and plug into the crimp tool.
Make sure the plug is inserted all the way - nearly all of the plug body should be inside the tool.
While pressing the wire into the plug, crimp the plug hard enough to force the contacts through the
insulation on the wires, thus completing the conducting path. Really squeeze firmly!
9.
Repeat the above steps to terminate the other end of the cable, using the same scheme to finish the
straight through cable.
10. Take the finished cable to your instructor for testing. Your instructor will record credit for this lab.
You do not need to turn in this worksheet - file it in your binder immediately.
T568-B Reference
Our lab uses the T568-B standard for all UTP cable terminations.
Use the table and diagram below when building your cable:
T568-B Pin Assignments
Pin#
1
Pair#
2
Function
Transmit
Wire Color
White/Orange
2
2
Transmit
Orange
3
3
Receive
White/Green
4
1
Not used
Blue
5
1
Not used
White/Blue
6
3
Receive
Green
7
4
Not used
White/Brown
8
4
Not used
Brown
2