Watch the Process
Before reading through the steps below, watch this video demonstration of the full cable termination process from start to finish.
Video: RJ-45 cable termination demonstration. Watch the full process before attempting it yourself.
ProcedureThe Four Steps
Strip the Cable Jacket
Using a cable stripper or the built-in blade on your crimping tool, remove approximately 1.5 inches of the outer jacket from the end of the cable. Score the jacket gently — you need to cut through the outer sheath without nicking the insulation on the individual wires inside.
If you nick or cut into any of the eight internal wires, cut that section off and start over. A damaged wire can cause intermittent connectivity issues that are extremely difficult to diagnose later.
Arrange the Wires
Untwist each of the four pairs and separate all eight wires. Arrange them side by side in the correct T-568B order: White-Orange, Orange, White-Green, Blue, White-Blue, Green, White-Brown, Brown. Hold them flat and parallel between your thumb and index finger.
This is the most critical and time-consuming step. Take your time. Pinch the wires tightly to keep them in order and use your other hand to straighten any wires that cross over each other. The wires should lay flat, not twisted or overlapping.
Trim the wires to an even, flat edge before inserting. Uneven wire lengths mean some wires won't reach the gold contacts inside the connector. Use flush-cut snips or the cutter on your crimping tool. The trimmed wires should extend about half an inch beyond the jacket.
Insert into the Connector
Hold the RJ-45 connector with the tab facing away from you (or down) and the gold contacts facing up toward you. Slide the arranged wires firmly into the connector. Each wire should travel into its own channel and the tip of each wire must reach the very front edge of the connector — all the way to the gold contacts.
The cable jacket should slide inside the connector body so that the strain relief will clamp down on the jacket, not on bare wires. If the jacket doesn't reach inside the connector, your stripped section may be too long — trim the wires shorter and try again.
Crimp the Connector
Place the loaded connector into the RJ-45 slot on your crimping tool. Squeeze the handle firmly until the ratchet releases (you'll hear and feel a click). This action does two things simultaneously: it drives the eight gold contacts down through the wire insulation to make electrical contact, and it clamps the strain relief onto the outer cable jacket.
After crimping, give the cable a gentle tug to confirm the connector is secure. The cable should not pull out of the connector. If it does, the strain relief didn't engage the jacket — the cable needs to be re-terminated with a new connector.
Test the Cable
After terminating both ends of the cable, use a cable tester to verify your work. Plug one end into the main unit and the other into the remote unit. A properly terminated cable will show LEDs lighting up in sequence from 1 through 8 on both units. If any LED is missing, out of sequence, or doesn't light at all, there's a wiring error.
The next page covers the most common errors and includes an interactive troubleshooting activity where you'll diagnose simulated cable tester failures.
Don't worry — it's completely normal for beginners to need several attempts. Cut the connector off, strip the cable again, and start over with a fresh connector. With practice, you'll be able to terminate a cable in under two minutes.