CAT 5 - Wiring Help

I have some CAT5 cabling that I need to connect to airport express ethernet ports. The cabling connects to wall jacks upstairs , which I want to be able to put ethernet cables into to connect various devices. The CAT5 cabling was not terminated, so I'm trying to do this myself and I bought some RJ45 plugs and a crimper, and I have tried to get the cables in the correct order (the cabling was installed 10 or so years ago and I'm trying to match the color order to how they feed the upstairs wall jacks, which is a little different than the normal color order I found on the internet but all the jacks have this different color order).

I'm having no luck, so I'm doing something wrong although I'm pretty sure it's not feeding the cable and crimping as the cables do appear to be at the end of the RJ45 plug. And I've tried cutting and putting on new plugs and that does not help. One thing I noticed is that when I place the RJ45 plug into the airport express, I don't get the green light in the back indicating an ethernet cable is attached.

I have no real electrical or computer skills, but always like to try to do these types of things myself as it does not appear too complicated, but it's just not working. Does anyone have any suggestions? Am I missing something obvious or something else I should try before throwing in the towel? thanks

Have you tried reversing the wiring order in the jack? The diagrams can be deceiving on their view for the wiring. i.e. you may be creating a cross-over cable (computer to computer) vs a patch cable (computer to ethernet).

Went through this a couple years ago. Remolded an older house into an office space. The electrician pulled the CAT5 but didn't terminate. I started doing them myself (approximate 20 lines, both ends) The first couple I did would not work. I ended up making a short cable that I could easily see both ends. I sat near my cable modem with my laptop and tried a couple different ways. I finally found something that worked. I had reversed the order as mentioned above.

I also did the phone lines using CAT5 (didn't need all the wires). I assumed the phone company would connect up the phones. I was wrong. They brought the line to my building, after that it was up to me. Google got me through.

Thanks for the advice. At the downstairs plug I tried matching the color scheme to the color scheme at the upstairs jack where the wire terminates both ways in the event I was reversed, but that did not help. I'm probably missing something there. My problem now is that I'm running out of wiring to keep cutting and trying different schemes. I can get away with a few more, but then I'm probably out of luck by making it too short and needing a coupler, which I don't want to use.

Are you able to determine if the jacks are wired as A or B? If the jacks aren't clearly labeled replace them with some that are Leviton makes some jacks that are very easy to read.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MESH

Are you able to determine if the jacks are wired as A or B? If the jacks aren't clearly labeled replace them with some that are Leviton makes some jacks that are very easy to read.

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This. If you have enough cable at both ends to re-terminate, get new wall jacks (NOT PLUGS) for both ends, beg/borrow/buy a punch-down tool, terminate both to current, EIA-568B standards, then run patch cables to the devices.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by anotherVTskibum

This. If you have enough cable at both ends to re-terminate, get new wall jacks (NOT PLUGS) for both ends, beg/borrow/buy a punch-down tool, terminate both to current, EIA-568B standards, then run patch cables to the devices.

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^ this

Attachment 192638Attachment 192639

Not sure whether the photos will show as I'm posting from my phone. I'll add tomorrow if not. But this is what I'm dealing with. I'll look into the wall jack suggestion. Thanks

568B is the most common termination standard in the USA. But it could be 568A. It's possible if one end is 568A and the other is 568B, you create a "cross-over" cable. [However, most switches will fix situations where you've used a cross-over cable where you shouldn't - provided the network switch/hub is from the last 10 years or so.]

So the RJ45, what's in the first picture should be wired up like this; [with the tab facing down, left to right]
White orange
Orange
White Green
Blue
White Blue
Green
White brown
Brown

[That's 568B]

568A reverses Green and Orange: So 568A is
White Green
Green
White orange
Blue
White Blue
Orange
White Brown
Brown.

Don't untwist the wires you're putting into the RJ45 [and crimping] more than 0.5 inches. [You'll introduce cross-talk. CT = BAD.]

If you pull the jacks out of the wall plate [in the second pic] and pull the tabs off the top of the jacks, you'll probably see markings with color codes. You'll probably see A and/or B (or both) next to a set of color markings. If it's wired up to match "B" - then do the jacks at the other end with the 568B layout, or vice versa.

I do IT stuff for a living, so glad to help if you PM me. Better pics with more details is good too, though what you've done so far is great.

Google may help a lot too.

Like this:
http://avtips.co.uk/images/e/e0/RJ45_T-568A_CO.jpg

In the photos, you've got a pair pulled back from the viewer's-right / top jack (the brown/white-brown pair), which indicates that jack definitely wasn't wired for network. While it's possible to use a cable-tester (or, heck, if you're good enough, a multimeter) to identify what the wiring pattern is, I'd pull that stuff apart and start from scratch. The jacks you've got may be reusable, but I'd spend the money on some Cable Access or Levitron jacks via Amazon and be done with it—you can get a pair of four-gang faceplates and eight jacks for less than $30:
10 jacks: https://smile.amazon.com/Cable-Matte...ords=cat5+jack
Wall plates (order two): https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...PYCZ6ZS8AA2ZAQ

Using jacks in the wall instead of plugs is both (a) correct to spec and (b) much easier in the long run (you can trace and label 'em once and actually know which is which).

Punchdown block? You can get ones that go in the wall plate. I hate making cable ends. Good point on the disconnected browns. Maybe it was some kind of phone system?

Dump, you can probably make it work with what you've got, but it will help if the jacks in your second picture have a wiring sticker on them.

The picture of the plug doesn't appear to be either 568A or B, but in reality, as long as the patterns match on both ends, it will work.

I'll pm you my email and phone number. I've helped a few guys out here as have others. Feel free to give me a call or send me an email if you want further assistance. There are many on this website that are IT pros. I worked in IT for 13 years before switching roles recently.

Seth

The top one with the brown wire pulled back is a phone jack. I don't need the jack, and since it also has CAT5 wiring and I could use ethernet cables to two devices from this wall, I'll probably switch that over to a data line also once I can figure out the first jack. I assume by doing that I will need to replace at least the second jack that was a former phone line so it seems just that I should probably start anew from the wall jack (the second photo) and work myself back to where I started crimping the plug on the other end.

I'll look a little closer at the comments and links once I get a little work out the way this morning. Thanks for the help

If it's staying in the wall or there is/could be a patch panel somewhere, go punch down. Then just cables from the switch/devices to the patch panel/jacks.
Maybe I didn't read this thread close enough?

Success! Finally figured it out. After a lot of trial in error it turned out that I had a nonstandard wiring color scheme, I had a wire jump its place in the plug that I had first not realized, and I was initially putting in the color scheme backwards.

Hughes thanks to Seth for sending me a few emails today helping me through the process. If you are ever in Seattle hit me up for some beers.

Attachment 192770

Yeah, those ends can be hard to put on.

If you do not do this regularly it can be a real challenge. One tool that helps is the Platinium Tools EZ Crimper. But it is more money and you have to use their jacks. However it does show the color coding really clearly and allows you to pull the individual wires out the end and view the colors are right.

Also you need to make sure you do not strip too much of the outer cover off, AND TRIM THE STRING OFF before you put the jack on and crimp the end.