flat Ethernet cable crimp to rj45

[justinm_]

How do you crimp an rj45 connector to flat cat 6 Ethernet cable, I've got the cabling wired from room to room but the wire has been cut halfway through so I want to cut the cable and put 2 rj45s on each end then link them with a coupler. The wires on the flat cable are thinner than a circular one and are different colours than a standard Ethernet cable.
These are the pairs

1.white&brown
2.white&blue
3.white&green
4.white&orange

 

[bjornl]

Network cabling, including Cat6 is either 'A' or 'B'
http://www.cableorganizer.com/articles/difference-between-T568A-and-T568B.html
You have to confirm what your cables are wired as. Almost all are wired 'B'.
Refer to the link above as it has an image which should help.

 

[Solandri]

If the *only* thing you're ever going to use with the splice is a coupler, then the order of the wire pairs doesn't matter. All you need to do is make sure the two ends are in the same order when inserted into the RJ45 jack. The coupler will map wire 1 to 1, wire 2 to 2, etc. So putting the wires into both the RJ45s in the same order will be good enough. (For a flat cable, this means one RJ45 jack will be oriented 180 degrees from the other.)

If there's the possibility you might add networking gear (like a switch) at this splice in the future, then you have to do what bjornl says and figure out whether it's wired as A or B and crimp the RJ45 jacks the same way. I suspect this will require you to cross some wires though, which may not be easy with a flat cable.

If you're going to do this as coupler-only, I actually do not recommend sealing the coupler in tape or something to discourage people in the future from taking it apart. I did that once, then had a problem where one RJ45 jack was not seated fully into the coupler, and had to spend 10 minutes picking apart my beautiful tight tape job in a 115 degree F attic. Just attach a label stating not to remove the coupler, and maybe some string and tape to keep the cable ends nearby the coupler if one of them should come out.

 

[bjornl]

I suspect this will require you to cross some wires though, which may not be easy with a flat cable.

Actually flat cables generally some lined up in 'B'. So all he would have to do is make sure he didn't cross them. Check the images in the link above and compare the the order in the original post and you will see that his flat cat 6 seems to follow convention.

 

[Solandri]

I suspect this will require you to cross some wires though, which may not be easy with a flat cable.

Actually flat cables generally some lined up in 'B'.

I'm skeptical of that. The whole point of UTP (unshielded twisted pair) is for each pair to carry opposite signals, so any noise they pick up can be subtracted at the end. But in order for the two wires to pick up the same noise, they have to be right next to each other the entire length of the cable (hence the twisting).

For flat cable, this is accomplished by putting each wire pair flat next to each other. But both T-568A and T-568B require the 3rd and 6th wire to be from the same pair. If they were wired straight, then the pair which normally goes on the 3rd and 6th wires would be separated, would pick up more noise. and the speed or max length of the cable would be reduced. (Flat cable is worse than round cable for the same reason. The twisting in round cable insures the wire in a pair closer to a RF source alternates, averaging out the noise. With a flat cable, one wire is always closer, and the noise in that wire will be different from its pair.)

 

[bjornl]

The strands are twisted, cat6 tighter than cat5 just not the pairs. But this means either you get the layout in the image or you get the opposite and just un-do one twist.

 

[bill001g]

The RJ45 ends for flat cable are different and you must buy the correct ones. Also some flat cable is stranded rather than solid so again you need the proper ends.

You might be better of with a small 110 splice block. They actually make small ones to splice single cables but I have never used those. It would likely be simpler to get right the first time if you do not have a lot of experience putting ends on rj45

 

[Ralston18]

No argument or disagreement with any of the previous postings.

However I would suggest replacing the flat cable if at all possible. And go a step further if at all possible and use standard round cable. Couplers will just add more room for future problems.

If replacement is not possible/viable then a coupler or block is the solution.

 

[justinm_]

Thanks for all the replies does anyone know if there are any connectors that you can buy that slot into an rj45 because the wires are too small for me to grip properly with the crimp tool