Eight tiny wires, one right order
Inside a cable there are eight thin wires, each with its own colour. Put two of them in the wrong place and the cable does not work.
Or worse, it works badly. It is slow and drops the link, and it takes a day to find the fault.
Today you learn the right order, and the steps to follow every time.
Key words
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Network | computers and devices joined together so they can share data |
| Ethernet | the common wired way to join devices in a network |
| Router | a device that passes data between networks |
| Pin-out | the list that says which wire goes to which pin of a connector |
| EIA/TIA-568A | a standard order of the eight wires, called 568A for short |
| EIA/TIA-568B | the other standard order, called 568B for short |
| 8P8C/RJ45 | the eight-pin plug at the end of an Ethernet cable |
| Crimper | a tool that presses a plug onto a cable so the pins bite the wires |
| Wire cutter | a tool that cuts the cable and trims the wire ends level |
| Stripper | a tool that removes the outer jacket without cutting the wires |
| Straight-through | a cable with the same pin-out at both ends |
| Crossover | a cable with 568A at one end and 568B at the other |
| Twisted pair | two wires twisted together to cut down interference |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
By the end of this lesson
Note
I can give the 568A and 568B wire orders, say how two cable types differ, and list the tools and steps.
Starter
Have a go
Starter
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Eight pins, read from the left
Hold the plug with the clip pointing down and the open end pointing at you. The pins are on top, and pin 1 is on the left.
Two orders are used. They are 568A and 568B. Many sites choose 568B. Both are correct. The rule is to use the same one on both ends of a straight-through cable.
The two wire orders
| Pin | 568A wire | 568B wire |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | white/green | white/orange |
| 2 | green | orange |
| 3 | white/orange | white/green |
| 4 | blue | blue |
| 5 | white/blue | white/blue |
| 6 | orange | green |
| 7 | white/brown | white/brown |
| 8 | brown | brown |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Put the 568B wires in order
Have a go
Put the 568B wires in order
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.