I have had factory made patch cables broken fresh from the packaging, so I 100% support making your own. The cable tester is nice to see the ordering too. Just this week I got proud for not having any faulty crimps and the next cable I did I switched the browns around :)

I wish someone with your sort of channel audience would tackle fiber optic terminations. Many network engineers are scared to attempt to DIY this yet it's become so simple with cold connection mechanical connectors that take only a minute to install and yield loss levels that are insignificant compared with fusion splicing. The whole toolkit is less than $100 AUD now, in fact less than $50 if one tackles it in a minimalist way. If you are unfamiliar with doing this, take us along on your journey of finding out how and discovering how simple it has become and if it's something you already know how to do then all the more reason for it to be a topic.

Always nice to go back to basics and still know how to fix even the most basic of physical faults. But thanks for the reminder that network monitoring is always good for this too.👍

@TallPaulTech

2 ай бұрын

Yeah man, can never forget the basics, be it in networking, karate, cooking, or bitches.

The outlets should have a clip over the wires so they don’t pop out. Well in fact with new installations with CAT6A the wires are heavily embedded into the mech and can’t come out. That cabling is of CAT5 standard where the wire can just fall out.

Network basics (when you made you own cable)

I got a tester in with my RJ45 ends and cable crimp tool - definitely worth having in your toolbox!

"..direct access to "microsoft support"".

Good to see layer two - nice shirt.

If there was a bell on your tester, you probably would have cut the speaker from past noise makers in your house 😉

@TallPaulTech

2 ай бұрын

Hmm... I'll give you that one.

Those testers aren't bad for a quick check but i have had that type of tester show all connections as good but still having a fault at one of the connectors still, obviously enough connection to bell out but no connectivity. Had to resort to replacing both end connections to resolve connection. They are great for a basic first quick check though.

Good troubleshooting vid. You probably already know this but its more ideal to punchdown with as little untwisted cable as possible and put the plastic retainer cap on the back of the mechs. I prefer to punchdown straight into the back instead of off to the side of the mech but each to their own. Keeps the outer insulation embedded all the way into the back of the mech and makes it a bit more mechanically secure.

@TallPaulTech

2 ай бұрын

Yeah I know the theory, but I know the real world too

I bought one of those from Jaycar in about 1998. They are great.

The Southwire M550 network tester is a bit better and more compact. It doesn't show results on both sides of the cable, but it only takes a second to pass/fail the cable. Favorite cable tester right now.

Nice video, thanks

For people that live in Oz, you can get a cable tester from Bunnings for less than $30.

@KieranMahoney

2 ай бұрын

PCCG has these for like $15

Hi Paul what is the network monitoring software that you were using in the video

@TallPaulTech

2 ай бұрын

LibreNMS of course

@haroldcruz8550

2 ай бұрын

@@TallPaulTech Thank you

I used that little device to find out I had two of the white wires crossed. Neat thing!

Had the same issue with a data drop at the house, i thought builder had cheaped out and ran cat5, tested the keystone and sure enough one of the strands wasn't punched properly, replaced it and voila 1gb.

I'm sure your terminations would fail a test with a cable certifier. The pairs look to have been untwisted quite a lot. The magic in UTP is the twist ratios. Each of the 4 pairs has a different twist rate that is not a mulriple of the others. When you untwist the pair you allow noise to enter. Modern silicon seems to handle a bit of noise. Might struggle with 2.5G or 10G.

I'm lucky to have a Fluke cable compliance tool...

Not ACMA accredited RCP are you :)

@SuperSamuals

2 ай бұрын

At home do you test everything? That’s like expecting a mechanic has a safe car.. 😂

If you want the patch panel behind the bed to not get fucked, you should move the bed further away from the wall.

@Michael-1205

2 ай бұрын

😂

You don’t need anything fancy for punchdowns I literally use a pair of small scissors to punch 110 blocks in a pinch and until recently didn’t even own a proper krone tool, fancy tools make no difference if the person using them is a tool

Ah, let the comments of anus begin

@retrogamereaper

2 ай бұрын

Too much anus, not enough schlong.

Now I need to set up network monitoring. Yet another project to annoy the people who live with me!

Isn't it possible to get one gig from only 2 pairs ? Once at work we had a faulty utp cable, I think pin 3 and 4, and it was for an AP powered with PoE. It was the cable that was faulty not the patch nor the crimping. The guy who ran the cables through the walls never came to fixe that. So I went like "Hey let's suppose this is PoE mode A and try to use the unused pairs". So I did a different wiring on the AP side. Like you I didn't want to remove the patch panel to change the wiring on the patch side, so I juste made a custom patch cable that reroutes the good pins in place of the faulty ones : one side of the custom patch cable was pins 12345678 and the other was pins 12785634, since mode A PoE uses only pins 123 and 6 it worked. After two years our customer finally got a good wifi connection in the back of the building :) I'm not sur but I think the switch indicated that the connection was one gig, I have to check that.

@KieranMahoney

2 ай бұрын

Not possible

Do yourself a favour and buy Panduit or CommScope jacks and wall plates.