I wired my home with Cat6 cabling. This page highlights a few jobs that I needed to perform to get things to work.

General:

I installed Cable Matters Cat6, 23AWG, solid conductor (not CCA), CM (in wall rated), UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair):

TIA/EIA-568-A or B? For a new installation it seems that the recommended scheme is A. Some
research indicates that A is the real standard and B was allowed because of the way some older
wires were built. However, I checked my patch cables and they are all B and it seems that most
people are doing B, so I chose to use B.

RJ45 Connector

You'll probably have to put some RJ45 connecters on your cable.

I decided to use the Platinum Tools ezEX-RJ45 system for my RJ45 connectors. I selected it from
the available products based on it's ability to make staggered wiring with a pass through design:

Make sure the end of your cable is cut flush:

First, you need to strip off the jacket. There is a tool that cuts off the jacket, but it can/will
nick your wires. I use a more "hands on" approach that will not nick/cut your wires. Start by
peeling back a small portion of your jacket. You can use your thumb nail or a small screw driver:

Next peel the jacket down/around a bit looking for the string. Pull down on the string until you
have gone down at least a little more than the length of the connector:

Peel the jacket down to the end of your cut:

Cut along the ring in the jacket:

The cut should end up fairly clean with little chance in nicking the wires:

Next bend the wire pairs down to the jacket to expose the plastic core:

Carefully snip off the plastic core. I carefully snip each of the four blades then twist the core out:

Untwist each of the twisted pairs:

Slide your fingers along each wire to get all of the bumps out:

Find a guide for the cable ordering. I'm using B and the tool has the order on it:

Holding the wires in one hand, line them up in order:

Snip the top of the wires so they are all about the same length. Is everything in the correct order?

Start them into the connector:

They should slide in relatively easily and come out the other end. Are they in the correct order?

If everything looks good then push the jacket and wiring in as far as you can. Note the little
plastic guide at the right end of the connector. It will be cut off when the end is crimped:

Put the connector in the tool:

Before crimping you have one last chance to make sure the wires are in the correct order:

Crimp it and take it out of the tool. You can see the jacket is crimped and the wires are cut flush.
Note that the little plastic guide was cut off flush too:

Here you can see the staggered wires:

After you complete each cable you may want to test them.

Keystone Punch Down Block

You'll probably have to make some wall jacks with keystone punch down blocks.

Note the colors and spacing for the wires. This side is blue with white stripe and blue and
brown with white stripe and brown:

For a TIA/EIA-568-B this side is orange and orange with white stripe, green and
green with white stripe:

Like the RJ-45 connector, pull the cord on the cable down on the jacket to a little longer than
the length of the connector:

Remove the jacket (see the RJ-45 write-up), insert a connector at the top (not shown) and
measure/cut the plastic core to push up against the connector at the top. The core will help
to keep good separation for the twisted pairs and helps to support the punched down wires:

Put the connector into your punch down stand and arrange the still twisted wires in the general
direction where they will be punched down. Note the green and blue pairs are opposite of each
other and the orange and brown pairs are on top and bottom:

Untwist the wires only as necessary and lay them in place. Leave a little horizontal space for
each wire facing the inside of the connector:

You're ready to punch down the wires, but what blade to use? Here's a Krone (left) and 110 (right)
blade with the cutting tip toward the right:

Here's the Krone (left) and 110 (right) without the cutting blade. I use the Krone without the
cutting blade. Why? It has the thinnest surface (the left side of the blade) that will be used
to punch down the inner portion of the wire:

Keeping the blade centered on each terminal push down on the wires with the thin side (shown)
facing the middle:

All punched down. Looking from the outside and inside each wire should be at the bottom
of their slot:

Now reveres the Krone tip so you can use the blade and only using as little force as necessary
(the punch tool should not "spring/punch") cut off the excess wire and make sure the wires
are still punched down properly:

From the top everything looks cleanly punched down, where necessary twists still in place,
and good separation with the help of the inner core. Click on your dust caps (you should not
feel the edges of the cut wires), and install in your keystone wall plate.

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Last Modified: July 16, 2017 08:12:33 PM