How to Wire Up Ethernet Plugs the EASY WAY! (Cat5e / Cat6 RJ45 Pass Through Connectors) — Switched On Network

How to make up CAT5e or CAT6 ethernet cables from scratch using RJ45 pass-through connectors, sometimes called EZ Pass Through or Snap Plugs. Learn how to make ethernet cable (patch lead) and fit an RJ45 connector using a pass-through RJ45 crimping tool for Snap Plugs. This type of RJ45 plug allows the 8 conductors to pass through the end, making it easier to ensure the correct order of the coloured wires (T-568A or T-568B) and perfect placement inside the jack before crimping.

For years and years I’ve been putting RJ45 plugs onto ethernet cable with closed plugs where you have to measure the length, or guess, and then hope and pray they all align up fully and properly at the tip and don’t swap places inside without you realising until it’s too late, and then crimping with one of these standard tools.

Although I got pretty good at it, I’ve still lost count over the years of the number of times I’ve had to snip an end off and start again from scratch, wasting a plug which can’t be used again and making the cable shorter and shorter with each failure.

Well, there’s now a better way using a slightly different type of RJ45 plug and a different crimping tool. So, this guide will show you the easy way to fit an end and make up your own ethernet cables from start to finish.

So, to start making your own ethernet cables you will need…

• https://geni.us/Cat6 — A drum of Ethernet cable — probably either Cat5e, Cat6 or possibly even Cat6a, it will depend on your use case but we won’t get into the differences in this article
• https://geni.us/RJ45PassThru — RJ45 plugs — make sure you buy pass through plugs, sometimes called snap plugs, and optionally the strain relief boots which help stop the little clip lever from snapping
• https://geni.us/RJ45Crimp — An RJ45 crimping tool — it must be one with a blade (for snap plugs)
• https://geni.us/Snips — A pair of snips
• https://geni.us/PunchDownTool — And one of these mini wire stripper and punch down tools is useful to own and will also be useful if you want to wire up any wall sockets as well
• https://geni.us/NetworkCableTester — Finally, a Cable tester — this is essential to verify the cable and all 8 connections are correct and working before you go to use it in your network setup.

( Disclosure: The above links are affiliated, which means we earn a small commission on qualifying sales, at no extra cost to you.)

So, take your wire cutters and cut however much cable you need for the cable run you’re working on — being sure to leave a generous amount of excess, partly because a few centimetres will get chopped from either end, because it’s always better to have a little bit of excess rather than realise the cable’s too short! Some crimping tools also include a cutter and a stripper, although I tend to use my own separate wire cutters and strippers — but it’s up to you.

If you’re going to be putting strain relief boots on, slide one on now before you proceed to start putting the end on.

Network cable consists of 4 twisted pairs, so 8 wires in total. Cat6 cable usually also has a loose plastic core running down the centre, to reduce crosstalk between those 4 twisted pairs. Each pair is colour-coded, with one of the pair being a solid colour and the other is a tribute act to an American rock duo from Detroit.

Strip off about a 3cm length of the outer jacket, being careful not to damage the conductors inside. Snip off the plastic crosstalk separator and the ripcord thread that both run along inside the cable. Then untwist all 4 pairs of wires, and pinch each wire tightly between your thumb and forefinger and run along like this to straighten them all out as best you can.

Next, it’s time to arrange the 8 wires in the correct order so that we can feed them into the plug. I keep a little printout in my tub of connectors, or you can just Google “RJ45 wiring diagram”. There are 2 main standards, T-568A and T-568B — the only difference is the greens and the oranges trade places. The key importance is that the wiring is the same on both ends of the cable, so if you’re just making a length of cable for yourself at home and terminating both ends with an RJ45 plug then it really doesn’t make any difference — as long as you use the same both end. I tend to use T-568B because it’s the most widely used. So that’s orange and white, solid orange, green and white, solid blue, blue and white, solid green, brown and white, solid brown.

If you’re adding cabling to an existing setup, or replacing a faulty end, then make sure you use whatever standard is already in use at the location, to make things easier for yourself and any other engineers who might do work there after you.

So, arrange them in the right order and again, run your fingers along to help straighten them out even more so that they sit right and in the correct position. I find it helpful at this point to take my wire cutters and gently grip the cables — but don’t snip them just yet — and to bunch the ends right up to each other and double check the colours are still in the correct order. Then, holding the base of the wires firmly with your thumb, snip a short length from the end so that we have a really neat, tight bunch at the end.

Next, take an end plug. These pass through ones, unlike the one I showed you at the start of the video, have open ends which means you can poke the strands right through, allowing you to double check the order is definitely correct before you commit and crimp the plug on, and it also guarantees that they all line up correctly and right to the very tip for a perfectly formed cable every time.

So once you’ve cut a short length from the end, carefully slide the arranged wires into the plug and allow them to “pass through” it, hence the name, keeping going until the outer jacket (which is white in this case) is fully inside as far as it will go. Then, examine the 8 wires and check again that all 8 are still in the correct order. If you accidentally loosened your grip too soon whilst putting the end on, and any cables got in the wrong order for example, you can of course just slide it off, correct, and reinsert without having to start again, waste a plug and make the cable a bit shorter again.

Once you’re happy with the end, insert into the crimping tool and squeeze it closed tightly — this will do two things, not only will it crimp the plug, holding the entire cable in place and splicing all 8 contacts into the 8 wires but the sharp blade on the rear will also trim all the excess off resulting in a perfect, neat job every time. You can then slide the strain relief boot up and over the clip and that’s the first end done! Repeat exactly the same process with the same wiring order for the other end, and then be sure to test the cable with a cable tester like this.

This checks all 8 wires individually — it will tell you that the 8 connections are good on both ends and also that it’s wired up correctly on both ends in the right order — or at least the same order both ends. It does this by sending a pulse down each wire in turn, from the Master to the Remote. You should see the sequence going from 1 to 8 on both ends, and when it does you know that the cable is working perfectly. If you get a sequence \that doesn’t go precisely from 1–8 on both ends then you know you’ve made a mistake somewhere. If it’s a long cable run — and both Cat5e and Cat6 cable are good for 100m — then you can separate the Master and Remote parts of the cable tester and put one at each end of the cable run to test it.

Where are you going to be running network cable? Do you use pass through RJ45 connectors or the older style ones? Let me know in the comments and you can also join the channel for some extra perks and technical support from me.

Purchasing Links: (paid)
Cat6 Ethernet Cable: https://geni.us/Cat6
RJ45 Pass Through / Snap Plugs: https://geni.us/RJ45PassThru
RJ45 Snap Plug Crimping Tool: https://geni.us/RJ45Crimp
Wire Cutters / Snips: https://geni.us/Snips
Punch Down Tool: https://geni.us/PunchDownTool
Ethernet Cable Tester: https://geni.us/NetworkCableTester

Join this channel to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/SwitchedOnNetwork/join

Here’s the RJ45 Pinout T-568B diagram which was the first result in Google Images in the video demo: https://www.showmecables.com/blog/post/rj45-pinout

More reading, T-568A vs T-568B: https://www.canford.co.uk/TechZone/Article/RJ45ConnectorWiring

Originally published at https://www.switchedonnetwork.com on May 27, 2021.