Lab 02 – Network Cables

On By Kylie Heronemus

Objective:

a.) Learning how to connect a twisted pair cable to an RJ45 data jack.

b.) Learning how to attach an RJ45 connector to a twisted pair cable and get it to connect a network to a workstation.

Equipment List:

a.) 

  • Twisted pair cable
  • RJ45 data jack
  • Punch-down tool

b.)

  • Crimp tool
  • Wire cutter
  • CAT5 UTP
  • Two RJ45 Connectors
  • Network System
  • Twisted pair cable

Notes and Observations:

a.)

Starting with a twisted pair cable, my group stripped the ends of the cable of it’s outer coating to display the wires. We then proceeded to unravel the twisted wires and straighten them out to reduce kinks. Next, we needed to put the wires in a certain order to be able to get the jack to work, as well as cut them to a shorter length (displayed in the image below).

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We then inserted the wires into a RJ45 data jack and used a punch-down tool to keep the jack in place (images below).

 

b.)

For this project, we used another cable and stripped the coating off the ends to expose the wires. We needed to unravel the wires, but not fully as we did last time. Unraveling the wires at the start of the coating, we made open enough gaps between wires to be placed between the teeth of the connector, matching the wire colors to the connector section. Next we used a crimping tool to keep the wires in place and cut off the extra wiring. We repeated these steps to attach the cable to the UTP segment (image below).

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Questions:

Why are UTP cables twisted?

  • To block any interference that may be trying to come through the cable.

What problems (if any ) did you have getting the cables to work?

  • A problem we ran into was keeping the wires in the right order when placing them into the jack. My group had to try a couple of times to get one end to be placed in properly.

What did you do to fix the problems?

  • We would have to remove the jack from the cable and try to place the wires back into the order they needed to go to get it to work.

Conclusion:

Just like the DC Motor lab, this lab was a new experience for me. It wasn’t highly difficult and was actually very enjoyable to learn. Understanding cables and how they need to be a certain way to be able to work helps me to see the accuracy of everything going on around me.

 

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