A
true story:
About a month ago I needed to
network 2
PCs, but all I had was a
patch cable.
Well, I had two PCs too. But the point I'm trying to get across is that I didn't have a crossover, which is what I needed.
Now, I'm a bit of a newbie at all this, but I knew I needed at least one RJ-45 terminator. The plan: cut off one end of my patch cable and cross it over.
So I headed down my local corner techie-shop. Yes, there's one about ninety seconds from where I live. I asked for an RJ-45.
"Certainly", said the man in the shop with a big smile, "that'll be 50 pence".
His smile unnerved me. I was about to pay when he asked "Do you have a crimper?"
"What's a crimper?"
"You need it to crimp the wires. You NEED it."
"How much?"
"Sixty-five pounds plus VAT." he said with a look of triumph. That's over 100USD1.
"In that case I think I'll try without the crimper", I said.
"In that case", he laughed, "you can have the RJ-45 for free".
</truestory>
If you want to crimp a Cat-5 and you don't have a crimper, don't despair. You can do it, whatever evil shopkeepers may tell you.
You will need:
- A pair of pliers (optional) - the small ones on a pen knife are ideal.
- A thin straight screwdriver, or a blunt, thick bladed knife; thin enough to fit in the gap of one pin of an RJ-45, thick enough that it won't easily bend or break.
Do everything as you normally would or as a guide might tell you, right up to the point where you're about to crimp. Now put the RJ-45 in your pliars and gently push the pins down. Push hard enough so that the pins to go down into the plastic casing, but not so hard that you deform the plastic. The pins are also likely to move forward (towards the end of the RJ-45). We'll fix that in a bit.
Then take your screwdriver or knife and place the end -- carefully --- on one of the metal pins of the RJ-45
Now
push
Harder
A bit more
Nice. You should be able to see that the pin has gone down more, and is now kind of sunk in. Ideally, you should be able to see the prongs at the bottom of the pin have made holes on the other side of the wire they are piercing. Try to push the pin down and back (towards the cable) at the same time.
lather, rinse, repeat.
Finally, use your tool to flip the chord grip (the little plastic flap thing) on the RJ-45. A thick screwdriver can be good for this. It should hold the cat-5 tightly in place to stop stress on the cable pulling on the actual wires. And there you have it, a crimped Cat-5.
Now, I wouldn't recommend this to people who make cables daily. It can really hurt your hand and arm. But for the occasional home networker, it's probably the most cost effective solution.
Update 12/11/02 I've now used this method to network a whole house, with basically no problems.
For other minimalist network solutions, see my esteemed flatmate's Running Two Connections Down One Piece of Cat-5
1 Crimping tools can be *much* cheaper than this. ymmv.
Thanks to lj] for suggestions.