RJ45's & Cat 5e cabling

[Chancer]

This one should be right up Quillan's street I suspect [:D] but all contributions as always are welcomed.

I am currently 2nd fixing 2 studios to the current normes and also redoing my own apartment so that it will pass another Consuel inspection (long story) and also because having moved my Freebox to better serve my petulant internet radio I now have some problems with the wifi signal to the Freebox HD for the television, I already have a temporary lead serving my computer so want everything to be hardwired back to my GTL and no more wifi. So effectively all 3 apartments can be treated the same.

For the RJ45 prises murales I have some French ones that I picked up relatively cheap for France from Bricoman, for the barrette de brassage in the C.D.C. in the G.T.L. (have I lost you yet? [:P]) I intend to bricolage it using some UK sourced modular RJ45 sockets, the ones I have are only one module but I believe that you can get 2 or 4 module ones on a single faceplate which will be more compact. I will make up some RJ45 cordons (patch leads?) to make the phone/telly/internet connections in the CDC.

The cable I bought in the UK and it is Cat5e, I have bought an RJ45 crimp tool, some plugs and a Lan tester (think its called that) from E-bay Uk and it was in my boite à lettres this morning without any customs bill, I do find it does pay to not have a doorbell and to have grasse matinées [:D]

So finally here are my questions.

Regarding the patch leads I realise that as long as the terminations are identical at each end they will work but I assume there must be some convention as in some instances I will have a male RJ45 at one end and a female prise murale at the other, my eyesight is really struggling to see what order the coloured cores are in my Blue Peter lead. What is the convention from left to right and what way up is the plug supposed to be?

The few plugs that came with the crimp tool dont have the strain relief manchon that is on the Blue Peter lead, should they be used? I will make off the leads extra long so that I can redo them if need be. I also have a Krone tool from years ago.

The construction of the French pises murales and the UK modular sockets are different, the French terminations are at 90 degrees to the connector pins and I cannot relate the colour coded labels on one to the other, the French ones look like the ones here that PPP posted http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/4/2057159/ShowPost.aspx#2057159 but confusingly are labelled A,B A,B A,B and A,B.

The English ones are numbered 1 to 8 and have 4 terminals with the same primary colours, the other 4 have the colours and white with a diagonal division between them. 

Now apart from knowing that there are 4 twisted pairs consisting of a primary colour and white I have no clue how to wire either of the sockets, I cant even relate to the wiring diagram that PPP shows as to me it looks to be linking pairs of terminals and what do the dashed colours signify.

I am sure that the answer will be simple and I can then make off a pair on the bench and then test them with a pair of cordons and this Lan tester thingy to be certain.

Finally I am dead chuffed with the crimp tool and stuff, the tool alone is at least 15 euros plus delivery in France, I got the tool, some plugs, theLan tester with batery and a leatherette wallet delivered to my door here in France from Hong Kong (presumably from China before that) for £7.99 IIRC.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Chancer"]

So finally here are my questions.

• Regarding the patch leads I realise that as long as the terminations are identical at each end they will work but I assume there must be some convention as in some instances I will have a male RJ45 at one end and a female prise murale at the other, my eyesight is really struggling to see what order the coloured cores are in my Blue Peter lead. What is the convention from left to right and what way up is the plug supposed to be?

[/quote]

[IMG]http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q99/ckenway/_cat5e_T568B_Wiring_Diagram.gif[/IMG]

Both ends the same.

[quote user="Chancer"]

• The few plugs that came with the crimp tool dont have the strain relief manchon that is on the Blue Peter lead, should they be used? I will make off the leads extra long so that I can redo them if need be. I also have a Krone tool from years ago.

[/quote]

We call them 'strain relief boots' or 'hoods' and yes the plugs should have them, you normally buy them in packets of 100 or 500 although I am sure you can get smaller quantities from retailers. Patch leads are normally about 70p for 0.5M and around £1 for 1M (plus VAT). We wouldn't normally make them ourselves, it's just not cost effective business wise. Actually looking for something else I noticed Maplin sell them in packs of 10 for £2.99 (inc VAT).

[quote user="Chancer"]

The construction of the French pises murales and the UK modular sockets are different, the French terminations are at 90 degrees to the connector pins and I cannot relate the colour coded labels on one to the other, the French ones look like the ones here that PPP posted http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/4/2057159/ShowPost.aspx#2057159 but confusingly are labelled A,B A,B A,B and A,B.

The English ones are numbered 1 to 8 and have 4 terminals with the same primary colours, the other 4 have the colours and white with a diagonal division between them. 

Now apart from knowing that there are 4 twisted pairs consisting of a primary colour and white I have no clue how to wire either of the sockets, I cant even relate to the wiring diagram that PPP shows as to me it looks to be linking pairs of terminals and what do the dashed colours signify.

I am sure that the answer will be simple and I can then make off a pair on the bench and then test them with a pair of cordons and this Lan tester thingy to be certain.

Finally I am dead chuffed with the crimp tool and stuff, the tool alone is at least 15 euros plus delivery in France, I got the tool, some plugs, theLan tester with batery and a leatherette wallet delivered to my door here in France from Hong Kong (presumably from China before that) for £7.99 IIRC.

[/quote]

The problem is different manufacturers of the sockets present their connections in different ways so firstly it's best to use the same wall socket make for all outlets. Basically you can use the above photo to try and match the the socket connections to the plug. Personally and without seeing them I would make one end up of a patch lead and strip the other end. I would then plug the socket and patch lead together then 'ring' the wires out with a meter.

The reason why it looks a 'strange' way to separate the pairs is because it's not only important that the right wire of each pair go to the right 'pin' but the pairs are in the right order because not only are each pair twisted the whole lot is twisted and along with the 'metal' the cable is made of all these twists are very important and enables the cable to 'do what it does'.

Yes there are two and four outlet plates available, your have much better luck visiting an electrical wholesaler in France to get them.

Moving on a bit. You will want to place your router down with the cabinet where all these wall sockets terminate (don't forget some power sockets) and if you are running multiple devices from the network you will need a 'switched hub', their not that expensive and you can buy them from Amazon and alike, an 8 port hub should be enough to get you going, buy branded, less problems. The Ethernet side of your router goes into the hub then you patch from the hub to the ports you want active, like the one for your computer and the other for your radio. You will also need a RJ11 to RJ45 converter to bring phone out of the router.

Hope that helps.

 

 

[Chancer]

It helped a lot Q and thanks for the quick response, the last paragraph all went over my head but as the freebox has been moved to a mid position between my flat and where I am working (where the internet radio is) its not relevant for the moment, I can always look back later.

A couple of precisons if you please [:D]

My cable pairs are each a colour and white, your diagram shows pairs of a solid colour with a white trace and white with a trace colour, which of these equates to the colour and the white in my cable?

Also on the diagram which way up is the plug?  i.e. with the locking tang uppemost or at the bottom?

Thanks again!

[Quillan]

[quote user="Chancer"]

It helped a lot Q and thanks for the quick response, the last paragraph all went over my head but as the freebox has been moved to a mid position between my flat and where I am working (where the internet radio is) its not relevant for the moment, I can always look back later.

A couple of precisons if you please [:D]

My cable pairs are each a colour and white, your diagram shows pairs of a solid colour with a white trace and white with a trace colour, which of these equates to the colour and the white in my cable?

Also on the diagram which way up is the plug?  i.e. with the locking tang uppemost or at the bottom?

Thanks again!

[/quote]

Then your cable is not Cat5e. The cable should have TIA/EIA-568-A.1-2001 T568A or more likely and more common TIA/EIA-568-A.1-2001 T568B written on it as well as markers per metre (so you know how long each run is) and both have very distinct and regulated colour codes, you can read more HERE and see the colours your self. Any other colours means it is not compliant and should not be used. I therefore can't help you with this 'strange' (non standard) cable, sorry. Most people think it's only 4 pair but in fact in distribution systems we often use 8, 12, 16, 32 and beyond as 'backbone cables but they all start with the same colour pairs for the same first connections as a 4 pair cable, but thats of no practical use to you with your system but it does show there is an even greater reason why these colour codes have to be to the same standard throughout and any engineer in any country can go anywhere in the world and know what he/she is looking at.

The picture is with the locking tab down.

Just a quickie, the number of twists per pair and the number of total cable twists not only effect the speed but the 'balance' of the cable, they ensure the lines are balanced in length which is why ppp was saying about how much his electrician friend was told you should strip back the wires for making the sockets. They don't explain this to sparkies they just tell them it's 'x' length and if its shorter or longer it's wrong and you fail the test. In reality you can strip them back longer, you have to when making up patch panels, but there is a calculation you use which results in the lengths you can strip being set, you must however keep the twist in each pair as close to the connection as you can. Making the plugs are a different matter, the length of 'stripping' is measured to ensure they fit the plug and cable grip properly when you crimp and it can differ between manufacturers, another reason why it's simpler to use the same make of kit throughout.

[Chancer]

The cable I bought either from Toolstation or Screwfix, I now realie the core colours should be in a similar fashion to BT  cable, i.e; blue/white trace twisted with white/blue trace etc.

At first I thought it was my failing eyesight as I could just make out the trace colours but in fact it was where some of the colours had migrated from one core to the other where they are twisted together, they are definitely plain coloured cables which if it were a telephone cable (where the pitch of the twist is unimportant) I would be pi55ed off as when you have a load of exposed cores that have become untwisted its only the trace colours that enable you to find the corresponding pairs; I do recall that the glycerine filled underground telephone cable that I used had the same plain colours without traces and hence like my soi disant Cat 5e cable half the cores were white which did cause me some problems.

I have pulled over a metre from the devidoir and the only marking I can find is as follows (I need my glasses now!) "cat 5e lan cablee UTP solid 4 pairs PX94 0908009 233ml) is this a contrafaçon?

I can see that the lack of a trace colou is going to cause me a real problem when it comes to doing the crimped plugs as IIRC correctly the green pair is split across another pair and it will be very easy to get the whites confused, perhaps I will use pre-made cordons, my pal has already offered to liberate a load for me, its just that I like to be autonome especially here in France and to have to hand ce qu'il faut.

Thanks again Q.

[Quillan]

I did a search in google (both English and Frence versions) for that number and can't find anything but unless it has the numbers on I gave you then it's not recognised universally as being Cat5e complient. There used to me quite a bit of 'hooky' Cat5 cable around, it seems there still may be, we used to check ours with a special, expensive meter before and after installation which also verified the length installed. Don't forget the patch leads are not made of solid cable but stranded which is why the official limit is 6M. You can make them up with solid cable for lengths over that for temporary use (like connecting you radio) but after 6M of braided there is no garantee of signal quality. As you pointed out telephone and Cat5 cables are two totally different things. Good luck. [;-)]