Cat 5 Cable

Connectors are plugs which are used to connect two or more computers together to form a network. The connector used for CAT5 cables are 8P8C or RJ-45 connectors. 8P8C stands for Eight Position, Eight Conductors. They are basically modular connectors. The RJ-45 connector does not use all the eight conductors while 8P8C uses all the eight conductors. Apart from this, there is hardly any difference between an 8P8C and a RJ-45 connector.

The 8P8C connectors are mainly used in Ethernet networks. It consists of a female socket and a male plug. These 8P8C connectors are used because they can be easily plugged or unplugged and are relatively smaller in size. The 8P8C connectors consist of eight positions for eight connectors. The wires are terminated with T568A or T568B pin/pair organization following TIA/EIA-568-B. It is often recommended to wire one end as T568A and the other end as T568B. Some common features of 8P8C and a RJ-45 connectors are: * They are waterproof * Easy to use * Smaller in size and hence easy to relocate.

The outer shield of these connectors provide protection from dust and moisture and facilitates better data transmission.

The 8P8C connector for twisted pair cable

The 8P8C plug is normally used with flat cables. The wiring is based on the physical compatibility of the wire and the connector. In the earlier pin out structure, the outermost pair was not able to meet the electrical requirements of high speed LAN. To overcome this two standards called T568A and T568B were used.

Ways to wire an 8P8C or RJ-45 connector with CAT5 cable

* Strip off the outer sheath or jacket of the cable to expose the wires. Arrange them in the order specified by the color coding scheme. Flatten the wires so that the could easily be inserted into the connector. * After aligning the wires trim them and then untwist the wires. * Insert the wires inside the connector so that each wire is placed properly into its channel. Make sure that each wire reaches the end beneath the gold crimping connectors. * Hold the cable so that it can be crimped properly using a crimping tool. * If the cable is stranded, repeat the above steps.