HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN CAT 5 TWISTED-PAIR NETWORK CABLES
Last updated: 1/18/2001

INTRODUCTION.  The purpose of this article is to show you how to make the two kinds of cables which can be used to network two or more computers together to form quick and simple home or small office local area networks (LANs).  These instructions can also be used to make patch cables for networks with more complex infrastructure wiring.

The two most common unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) network standards are the10 Mhz 10BASE-T Ethernet and the 100Mhz 100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet.  The 100BASE-TX standard is quickly becoming the predominant LAN standard.  If you are starting from scratch, to build a small home or office network, this is clearly the standard you should choose.  This article will show you how to make cables which will work with both standards.

LANS SIMPLIFIED.  A LAN can be as simple as two computers, each having a network interface card (NIC) or network adapter and running network software, connected together with a crossover cable. 

The next step up would be a network consisting of three or more computers and a hub.  Each of the computers is plugged into the hub with a straight-thru cable (the crossover function is performed by the hub).

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