How to Terminate a CAT 5E Cable

Computer retailers typically charge high prices for a simple CAT 5E cable that you could make on your own for a few dollars. It's a much better idea to learn how to make your own---homemade CAT 5E network cables will save you money. All you need to "terminate"---really just another way of saying "make"---a CAT 5E cable of your own is some bulk wire, which you can buy at a hardware store or order over the Internet; an RJ-45 connector; a wire stripping tool; and a crimping tool. 1. Score the cable casing about two inches from the end. Be gentle---you don't want to cut through the twisted wire pairs inside the casing.
2. Pull the outer casing off the cable's end to reveal the twisted pairs of wires inside. There should be four twisted pairs: blue and blue-striped; brown and brown-striped, green and green-striped, and orange and orange-striped. Some cables won't have stripes on the second paired wire, leaving it white instead.
3. Unwind the twisted pairs for the two inches of revealed wire so that you get eight wires.
4. Line up the untwisted wires in accordance with the type of wire you'd like to create. The most common type of wire uses this order: green-striped, green, orange-striped, blue, blue-striped, orange, brown-striped, brown.
5. Pick up the wires and hold them tightly between your thumb and forefinger, so that they rest in a flat array with each wire touching the next.
6. Trim the end of the arrayed wires with the crimping tool so that the wires can fit into the RJ-45 connector correctly.
7. Insert the wires---double-checking that they're still in the right order---into the back side of the RJ-45 connector with the clip facing down, and push the wires to come through its front.
8. Insert the RJ-45 connector into the crimping tool and crimp the wires onto the connector. In the process this will also cut any excess length that was left over.
9. Repeat each step on the opposite end of the wire, and you've got a terminated CAT 5E network cable.