How-to Guide: Creating CAT-5 UTP Ethernet Crossover Cable

Cat-5 (Category 5) cable is unshielded wire containing four pairs of 24-gauge twisted copper pairs, terminating in an RJ-45 jack which being used for network and telephone connection. A crossover cable means that the second and third pairs on one end of the cable will be reversed on the other end.  How-to build a CAT-5 Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Ethernet crossover cable to the T568B and T568A standards is provided as followed.

You need to prepare a spool of Cat 5 or Cat 5e UTP cable, 4pcs RJ-45 (8-pin) connectors, a RJ-45 crimping tool, an Ethernet / RJ-45 continuity tester and wire cutters. You may see pin designations for T568 cable wiring table to create a crossover cable. One end of the cable should be wired to the T568-A standard. The other end should be wired to the T568-B standard.

1. Determine your device (6ft/1.83m and 10ft/3.05) are standard length for this cable
2. Strip 5.08 cm 9 (2in.) of jacket off one end of the cable.
3. Hold the four pairs of twisted cables tightly where the jacket was cut away. Reorganize the cable pairs into the order of the 568-B wiring standard.
4. Hold the jacket and cable in one hand. Untwist a short length of the green and blue pairs, and reorder them to reflect the 568-B wiring color scheme. Untwist and order the rest of the wire pairs
5. Flatten, straighten, and line up the wires. Trim them in a straight line to within 1.25 cm to 1.9 cm (1/2 to ¾ in.) from the edge of the jacket.
6. Place an RJ-45 plug on the end of the cable with the prong on the underside and the orange pair, green pair on the 586-A end, to the left side of the connector.
7. Push the plug onto wires until the copper ends of the wires can be seen through the end of the plug. Make sure the end of the jacket is inside the plug and all wires are in the correct order. If everything is correct, crimp the plug hard enough to force the contacts through the insulation on the wires.
8. Repeat steps 2-6 to terminate the other end of the cable using the 568-A scheme to finish the crossover cable. Always refer to the scheme shown above.
9. Test the finished cable.