Making a network patch lead
In practice it is rarely worthwhile making patch leads in bulk as they are vary cheap to buy ready made. However as an exercise for students to understand the how the pairs of colours work and as a lead up to the exercises on patching wall sockets and patch panels then it is worthwhile. There are also alternative colour ways which cannot be so readily bought off-the-shelf and the ability to make these up is often useful (see below).
Patch lead tools Cutting the sheath Removing the sheath Cut string
Tools Remove outer sheath Removing the sheath Cut string
In addition to category 5e UTP (unshielded twisted pair) cable you will need, scissors, crimping tool, RJ45 plugs and cable testers Taking care not to cut the inner cables remove a length of insulating sheath Discard the sheath to reveal the four pairs of twisted cable within Cut off the little length of string that is inside the sheath
Separate wires in pairs Separate wires individually Straighten wires Straighten wires
Separate wires Separate wires Straighten wires Straighten wires
Separate out the four pairs of wires Separate out each pair of wires Firmly pull the wires between finger and thumb Keep pulling the wires between flatter and straighter
Flatten wires Trim wires Place RJ45 socket 568B colour way
Flatten wires Trim wires Place RJ45 socket Correct colours

Illustrated - the wires are nearly parallel. Make sure that you achieve the correct colour order:
white/orange, orange,
white/green, blue,
white/blue, green,
white/brown, brown

 When you have achieved the correct colour order and the cables are flat and parallel, trim off the wires so that 12mm is protruding from the sheath Push the wires into the plug so that they reach in fully. Make sure that enough sheath is inside the plug that will be physically gripped when the plug is crimped Note the correct order of wires. Check that the correct colour order has been maintained BEFORE crimping. This colour protocal is known as 568B and is the most commonly used colour way for categopry 5 cable networks.
Crimping tool Crimping tool Finished plug Network cable testers
Crimping tool Crimping tool Finished plug Testing
Place the RJ45 plug into the crimping tool. Note that the sheath is also trapped by the crimping process. Firmly crimp the RJ45 plug so that the individual wires and the outer sheath are all fully trapped inside the plug. Visually inspect the completed plug to ensure that you have maintained the correct colour way. (If you haven't cut it off and start again!) When you have crimped both ends, always test the finished cable using an electrical tester.
Alternative colour ways
Normal patch leads have the same 568B colour way at both ends. However if you want to make a crossover cable (for directly connecting one computer with another) then the colours at positions 1,2,3 and 6 need to be reversed (in 100Mb networks these are the only wires actually used). If you want to make a gigabit crossover cable then you need to reverse all of the orange and green pairs and the brown and blue pairs so that one end is normal 568B and the other is as shown in the diagram. For connecting to a router administration port you should use a rollover cable (one end is the opposite of the other)
568A colour way 568A colour way used for 100Mb cross over cable 1GB crossover cable colour way Colour way for 1GB crossover cable

Trevor Blunn - Director of IT - Princethorpe College