Crimping your own cables

[wideo]

I have a bunch of ethernet and phone cables that I bought and use at home. The plastic hook on these things will always get broken within a year or so, but the cable will still work. Do I buy new cables, even the long ones, knowing that the connectors will get broken in a few months, or is it ok to cut off the broken connectors and crimp on a new ones?

I don't want to throw out a 40 ft cable when only the ends are broken.

 

[JackMDS]

You do not terminate 40feet long cable into a plug,

You terminate it to Keystones and use short commercial patches from the Keystone to the Network device.

Tooless keystones, https://www.monoprice.com/prod..._id=310&seq=1&format=4

http://www.ezlan.net/CAT.html

 

[wideo]

The 40 ft cable is actually a telephone cable. It's analogous to a network patch cable. All the cables I'm talking about are patch cables. I already have the house wired up.

 

[RebateMonger]

Buy patch cables with boots on the end that protect the connectors. Monoprice.com's cables have them and are dirt cheap.

 

[wideo]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger
Buy patch cables with boots on the end that protect the connectors. Monoprice.com's cables have them and are dirt cheap.

Do you have any experience with booted cables? From my limited experience, they don't work as well as I'd like. But I'll try anyway.

This doesn't help my phone cable.

Whoever designed these connectors was not very bright. :|

Any other sites where I can buy cheap cables?

 

[RebateMonger]

Well, I've never had that little plastic tab break on a booted cable. I've seen them break on non-booted cables. The boot certainly helps keep the connector from getting tangled in other cables, which is the usual reason the tabs get broken.

Occasionally the boots get in the way in tight spaces, where you can't get your finger in to squeeze the end to release the connector.

Two places that get recommended for cheap cables are SVC and Monoprice. I've never ordered from SVC. A fifty-foot phone cable is $2.23 at Mono. Both sites shine in shipping costs compared to many cabling sites.

 

[wideo]

Sounds good. Thanks! I think these crappy connectors will stay with us until twisted pair runs its course.

 

[Crusty]

I use the booted cables for client connections from the wall, but non-booted in the server room and network closet.