Making Your Own Network Cables

This article will show you how to make the two most common types of network cables. Using one of these types of cables, you will be able to network two or more computers together to form home or small office LAN (Local Area Network).

A patch cable comes in two forms and both are fairly simple to make. The two types of patch cables are a straight through cable and a crossover cable.

A straight through cable is what is used when connecting a computer to a hub in a network.

A crossover cable would allow you to connect two computers directly together and allow you to transfer data between the two devices.

Both have their purposes and both require the right tools and standards.

Lets talk about the straight through cable and what is involved in making one. A straight through cable allows data to flow in both directions (full duplex) between two devices. You can simply just match the color pattern of the wires on both ends and you would have a straight through cable and it would work but it will not be correct according to wiring standards.

The correct way to make this cable is as follows (Both ends of the cable will be the same):

Orange/white
Orange
Blue/white
Green
Green/white
Blue
Brown/white
Brown

This is the wiring pattern that is standards based and will allow you and anyone that comes in after you to know what type of cable you/they are working with.

Now lets look at a crossover cable and see how it is made according to standards. One end of the cable will be the same as above but the other end is much different. The reason for this is to get the cross over you need to connect two devices together.
This is the pattern for the other end of the cable:

Green/white
Green
Orange/white
Blue
Blue/white
Orange
Brown/white
Brown

One note that is very important is when making a cable be sure that the outer cover of the wire is far enough up into the end that it gets crimped in. In other words don't leave any amount of wire hanging beyond the end as this will over time break the wires and cause problems with you network.

You will also need the right tools to make these cables. The minimum tools required are:

Specials