Making your own patch cables?

[NorthShoreRob]

Whats the pros & cons of making your own patch cables? I was thinking it would be cheaper to make your own than buying them from the store. Anyone?

TIA,
Rob

 

[amdskip]

In the long run if you need professional trouble free cables, you will be better off buying them.

Crimpers aren't cheap and you can't always be sure that you've made a good solid crimp. Sure it may be fun to make them but if you are looking for a reliable network, you are better off buying them and eliminating something in the troubleshooting list for a network.

 

[reicherb]

It's costs $3000+ to get a tester that can certify a cable is cat5. More for cat6.

 

[JackMDS]

350mhz enhanced cat5 cable.

 

[Mears]

$3000?!? I have a tester that can test cat5 cables that works and came in a bundle that cost me about $70 shipped incuding cable and connectors.

 

[Mucman]

Originally posted by: Mears
$3000?!? I have a tester that can test cat5 cables that works and came in a bundle that cost me about $70 shipped incuding cable and connectors.

That's just a link tester... it doesn't tell you if the cable is certified or not.

Cables are cheap, just buy em!

 

[JackMDS]

Originally posted by: Mucman

Originally posted by: MearsCables are cheap, just buy em!

Actually Cables are Very Cheap. (j/k).

Pulling CAT5e through the wall (or on the trim) and terminate them into Keystone jacks is much safer and easy for a novice. It also saves a lot of money. Money that otherwise might be paid to the "plumber" that would be hired to do the wiring.

Given the prices of commercially made patch CAT5e for a novice to make patch cables (they have to use stranded CAT5) it is not being cheap; it is being St---d.

 

[cmetz]

Pro: exact lengths, whenever you need 'em. Crossovers are no problem to make. Can be cheaper. Pretty easy to do. Good for those do-it-yourselfer types.
Con: quality of result depends on quality of tools (and thus cost) and clue level of maker - it's likely to be worse than factory made, but someone who knows what they're doing and has the right tools can do as good a job - it's just that there's always that question. It's also a pain in the %!$#%$# to make a bunch of patch cables, and you're likely to spend more labor than it's worth. It also is not good for the pads of your fingers (at least for me). And you make a mess, and the stuff gets everywhere if you don't put down some sort of mat.

At home, I make my own patch cables. I don't have a cat5e certification cable tester, just one of those testers that tells you whether the pairs are wired right. My experience is that I get about one in ten ends wrong and have to re-do it. My experience is that once the patch cables pass the mini-tester and bring up an Ethernet link, they work fine 10/100/1000 and stay that way (no wiggle problems, etc). I get slashed ends of cable pulls all the time (that is, the last 10-20 feet times several cables that were tied together and pulled, then cut down because there was way too much slack budgeted) and so the cable for patch cables is effectively free. Crimp ends are cheap, and I have the tools. Were I starting from scratch and buying tools and cables, it would be far less attractive to make my own because I wouldn't actually save money doing it.

For any work site, though, I buy factory cables. Mostly because it's not worth the labor, but also because it's not worth the chance.

 

[NorthShoreRob]

I hear what you all are saying. I think I wont take the chance of messing it up and just buy the cable...thank you all for your input.

 

[PCAddict]

I make CAT5 cables all the time for work. We often have to pull up to 100' of cable through conduits and I have to put the RJ45 connectors on each end. Never had a problem. I have a $200 tester that my boss got me. If you're ever in a fairly new gas station/convenience store in NJ, some of my cables are probably in there with you. I've made a bunch of cables for myself at home by using leftover lengths from cable pulls on various jobs. My router is connected to my DSL modem with one of these such cables. My desktop PC is connected to my router with one too, come to think of it. I even made myself a CAT3 cable to go from the DSL modem to the phone jack.

If you know what you're doing, make sure everything is crimped properly, and use a tester you shouldn't have a problem. But, I do agree if you don't have the tools/experience that you should buy ready-made cables. It's often cheaper.

 

[PowerMacG5]

If you can afford a full fledged tester, go ahead and make your own cables, if not, and these are in a mission critical setting, I wouldn't suggest it. Where I work, we have a pair of computer testers that must run for 5000+ for the pair (sender and receiver, both with LCD readouts in color). They will certify every aspect of the cable, from length, to signal degredation and interference. Very nice product of you can afford one and have the need.

 

[Soybomb]

Originally posted by: PCAddict
I make CAT5 cables all the time for work. We often have to pull up to 100' of cable through conduits and I have to put the RJ45 connectors on each end. Never had a problem. I have a $200 tester that my boss got me. If you're ever in a fairly new gas station/convenience store in NJ, some of my cables are probably in there with you. I've made a bunch of cables for myself at home by using leftover lengths from cable pulls on various jobs. My router is connected to my DSL modem with one of these such cables. My desktop PC is connected to my router with one too, come to think of it. I even made myself a CAT3 cable to go from the DSL modem to the phone jack.

If you know what you're doing, make sure everything is crimped properly, and use a tester you shouldn't have a problem. But, I do agree if you don't have the tools/experience that you should buy ready-made cables. It's often cheaper.

The problem is though your $200 tester just checks continuity and maybe shorts. You can make a cable and it will work. If you get like a $4000-$6000 certifier and actually test your cables to see what they rate at I think you'd be surprised at how many don't rate as cat5e for example. They work, but are they working as fast as they should be?

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: amdskip
In the long run if you need professional trouble free cables, you will be better off buying them.

Crimpers aren't cheap and you can't always be sure that you've made a good solid crimp. Sure it may be fun to make them but if you are looking for a reliable network, you are better off buying them and eliminating something in the troubleshooting list for a network.

I'm going to have to disagree. Crimpers are very cheap, as a matter of fact you'll probably save enough money in your first 100' of cable to pay for them. You can also make very reliable cables just by not half-assing it. Just because you pay someone to do your cables doesn't mean they will do a better job than you. I've had more bad cables from vendors/manufacturers than from myself.

 

[robotcholi]

this is my experience in this endeavor:

i recently tried my very first time to crimp these sucker and i didn't follow the rule for wiring configuration; it worked fine for short cables but long cables, it wouldn't work. So one thing i've learned is to always follow the rules when configure which strand goes where. As long as you follow the rules and take your time when crimp, you shouldn't have any problem to get them work. All of my cables worked perfectly first time but i don't know if they are cat5 certified. I only use them to split dsl up and you know dsl connection doesn't use much bandwidth so i could careless if it's cat5 certified If you are in professional setting, maybe you should consider do it professionally.

Robot,

 

[NogginBoink]

Making your own cables is not hard. Two or three practice cables and you'll get the knack.

And yes, it can be very cost effective.