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Trouble Making my Own Cat-5 Cable

MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNARochester, MNRegistered User regular
edited June 2007 in Help / Advice Forum
So I got one of those kits from Wal-Mart on how to make your own length of Cat-5 cable from a 100 foot stock. I put it together according to the instructions and http://www.netspec.com/helpdesk/wiredoc.html . According to the latter website I have the color scheme that matches two simultaneous cross-over ends. Which, should give me a 'straight through' cord.

The computer recognizes the cable connection, but the XP Dialogue box bounces back from 'Connected' to 'Unconnected' every few seconds. I've already double checked the ends and they look secure, is there some step I've missed or any troubleshooting techniques you all could offer?

I am in the business of saving lives.
MegaMan001 on

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    ElectricTurtleElectricTurtle Seeress WARegistered User regular
    edited June 2007
    You're confusing me by saying "crossover" and "straight through" to refer to the same cable. A crossover cable connects two computers without a switch/hub/router. A straight through cable connects a computer to a switch/hub/router. If you want a straight through cable each end must be identical, so that if you held them up side by side (not end to end) the pattern would repeat.

    ElectricTurtle on
    yfrxgugaj8wu.png
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    MegaMan001MegaMan001 CRNA Rochester, MNRegistered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Both ends are currently identical. The pattern is White/Green - Green - White/Orange - Blue - White/Blue - Orange - White/Brown - Brown on both ends.

    MegaMan001 on
    I am in the business of saving lives.
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    ElectricTurtleElectricTurtle Seeress WARegistered User regular
    edited June 2007
    Then you probably didn't crimp them hard enough or maybe one of the wires is short. Happened all the time to me when I was first making cables. Cut one end off, try it again, then the other head, if it still doesn't work, try a different length of cable. If it still doesn't work, you may have a bad batch of cable, which happens sometimes.

    ElectricTurtle on
    yfrxgugaj8wu.png
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    ZifnabZifnab Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    The Connected/Unconnected issue for me is usually caused by a poor crimp at one of the cable ends. Check out both ends to make sure that all of the wires extend the whole way to the contact points, first. If they don't, cut the end off and put a new one on. If they do extend the whole way, you probably have a bad crimp. You're probably not supposed to do this, but I'll usually stick the crimper tool back onto the end and give it a good hard squeeze like I should have in the first place. Nine times out of ten, that'll fix the issue for me. Otherwise, same deal--cut, recrimp, etc.

    Zifnab on
    Straight Ahead Media | Back & Forth
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    browneyedsquirrelbrowneyedsquirrel Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    To those who have responded so far: Is the color sequence Megaman used correct?

    I've seen two ways that basically switch the positions of the green and orange. Is there a difference and will it matter?

    browneyedsquirrel on
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    oldsakoldsak Registered User regular
    edited June 2007
    browneyedsquirrel wrote: »
    To those who have responded so far: Is the color sequence Megaman used correct?

    I've seen two ways that basically switch the positions of the green and orange. Is there a difference and will it matter?

    For a straight through cable it technically doesn't matter as long as both ends are identical. It helps to use the standard because you won't necessarily be able to compare both ends if you need to retip a cable.

    oldsak on
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