Making Ethernet Cables

[psymon]

A fair comment, but luckily the cable I referenced matched the colour order you posted earlier.

[Jani]

Ps. if you're going to buy a box of cable, get cat6 stuff to futureproof yourself. You can get a 305m box (that's a standard size) for around £40 these days, that works out to ~13p per metre.

[psymon]

About that... I thought cat 5, 6, etc, was the cable, not the jack??
*googles*
*watches a youtube*
oh my days this is painfully hilarious.

From what I can see... the port is exactly the same shape, so either plug will do, only difference is potentially one causes more noise than the other...?

[Merson]

You won't have to worry about noise. They are awfully quiet...

[Neomancer]

For home use.. you will only need cat5.. i can't see consumers using 10GB at home anytime soon..

also the comments on this video upset me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyYBEed0nEM

[psymon]

For home use.. you will only need cat5.. i can't see consumers using 10GB at home anytime soon..

also the comments on this video upset me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyYBEed0nEM

Comments in any youtube video are enough of a reason to start a world wide nuclear cleansing.

Also, there's a very pedantic / anal / autistic side of me when it comes to B for bytes and b for bits.
Just a heads up to all, although I may have unintentionally opened myself up to mockery...

[psymon]

Thought I'd share a few tips.
I doubt I'm the first to think of these, but I've not seen them before I had the idea so...

Cheap method of making them "snag free"
A bit of electrical tape gently over the catch (that all too often gets snapped off) and secured around the underside of the jack.
Simple, cheap, quick, effective.

Easy test method
I've got a fancy netgear switch that shows green lights for 1Gb, orange for 100Mb/10Mb.
Once I finished a cable I plugged both ends into the same switch. Green lights confirmed successful 1Gb.
I made a bad connection intentionally (orange, blue, orange, etc.) and plugging both ends into the switch resulted in no lights.

I also made a crossover cable :3

[Wishy]

The cheap Chinese made 9v battery + LED cable testers work quite well. I'd rather use that than have to plug in cable and switch.

I did notice the other day that my TP-Link Semi-managed switch does cable diagnostics and can identify the faulty pair, and which end of the cable the break is on (Near or far)

[bloodtobleed]

'Boots': http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-coloured-boots-for-rj45-connectors-grey-10-pack-cf97f
Tester: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/rj45-and-rj11-network-cable-tester-n21cl

The 'boots' are pretty nice and give a bit more support to the clip. If you buy decent clips and don't throw the cables around too much, they don't tend to break often (in my experience anyway).
I have a cheap tester like that and it's pretty handy. If you were for some reason working with or making cables every other day I'd recommend something a bit better.

[psymon]

The cheap Chinese made 9v battery + LED cable testers work quite well. I'd rather use that than have to plug in cable and switch.

I did notice the other day that my TP-Link Semi-managed switch does cable diagnostics and can identify the faulty pair, and which end of the cable the break is on (Near or far)

Like one of these?
Gotta plug into that anyway, so what's the difference?
Sounds like your switch is fancier than mine :­P

'Boots': http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-coloured-boots-for-rj45-connectors-grey-10-pack-cf97f
Tester: http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/rj45-and-rj11-network-cable-tester-n21cl

The 'boots' are pretty nice and give a bit more support to the clip. If you buy decent clips and don't throw the cables around too much, they don't tend to break often (in my experience anyway).
I have a cheap tester like that and it's pretty handy. If you were for some reason working with or making cables every other day I'd recommend something a bit better.

All I see is "expense and expense" xD

[Jani]

The cheap Chinese 9v testers are great but they don't last long, I've been through 3 in 2 years

[bloodtobleed]

All I see is "expense and expense" xD

The testers will tell you which cables are wrong rather than the switch just informing you it's just not working. Gives you a bit more to work with.
If you're connecting through switches, wall-points etc., you can test sections a bit easier and carrying around a switch and a device to plug the other end into it worse than a 9V tester.
Naturally you're just at home so it doesn't matter as much

[Wishy]

The cheap Chinese 9v testers are great but they don't last long, I've been through 3 in 2 years

I've had mine since Uni. Which is longer than I care to remember </GrumpyOldMan>

[psymon]

All I see is "expense and expense" xD

The testers will tell you which cables are wrong rather than the switch just informing you it's just not working. Gives you a bit more to work with.
If you're connecting through switches, wall-points etc., you can test sections a bit easier and carrying around a switch and a device to plug the other end into it worse than a 9V tester.
Naturally you're just at home so it doesn't matter as much

Fair point about it telling you which wire in the cable is wrong.
I've got a multimeter for the time being :3