Assembling the Shielded RJ45 Connector and Ethernet Cable

Background

Figure 1 shows the components of an RJ45 connector and a shielded Ethernet cable.

Figure 1 Shielded RJ45 connector and cable

Procedure

1. Fit the jacket of the connector onto the Ethernet cable, as shown in Figure 2.

   Figure 2 Fitting the jacket of the connector onto the Ethernet cable
   
2. Remove a 30 mm (1.18 in.) long section of the jacket, cut off the nylon twine inside the jacket, and cut a no more than 5 mm (0.20 in.) cleft in the jacket, as shown in Figure 3.
   Figure 3 Removing the jacket of a twisted-pair cable (unit: mm (in.))
   
   

   • When you remove a section of the jacket, do not damage the shield layer of the twisted-pair cable.
   • When you remove the shield layer, do not damage the insulation of the twisted-pair cable.

3. Fit the metal shell onto the twisted-pair cable. The shield layer is covered by the metal shell, as shown in Figure 4.

   Figure 4 Fitting the metal shell onto the twisted-pair cable
   

4. Fit the metal shell onto the twisted-pair cable until the shield layer is covered completely. Along the edge of the metal shell, cut off the aluminum foil shield layer and ensure that there is no surplus copper wire. The exposed twisted-pair cable is about 20 mm (0.79 in.) long, as shown in Figure 5.

   Figure 5 Removing the shield layer of a twisted-pair cable (unit: mm (in.))
   

5. Lead the four pairs of twisted-pair wires through the wire holder, as shown in Figure 6 and Figure 7. Ensure that the colored wires are in the correct location in the cable.

   Figure 6 Leading wires through the wire holder
   
   Figure 7 Cable locations in a wire holder
   

6. Align the four pairs of cables in the holder, as shown in Figure 8. The connections between the wires and the pins are shown in Figure 9 and listed in Table 1.

   Figure 8 Four pairs of cables on a wire holder
   
   Figure 9 Connections between wires and pins
   

   Table 1 Connections between wires and pins (using a straight-through cable as an example)

   Matching Pins of Wires	Wire Color
   1	White-Orange
   2	Orange
   3	White-Green
   4	Blue
   5	White-Blue
   6	Green
   7	White-Brown
   8	Brown

7. Cut off the surplus cables along the lower edge of the wire holder, as shown in Figure 10.

   Figure 10 Cutting off surplus cables
   
8. Put the connector body onto the wire holder and turn the metal shell by 90°, as shown in Figure 11.
   Figure 11 Putting the connector body onto the wire holder
   
   

   Ensure that the wire holder is in good contact with the connector body.

9. Push the metal shell toward the connector body until the wire holder and the connector body are engaged completely. Crimp the connector, as shown in Figure 12.

   Figure 12 Crimping the connector
   

10. Push the jacket towards the metal shell until the metal shell is covered. This completes the assembly of one end of the cable, as shown in Figure 13.

    Figure 13 Pushing the metal shell
    

11. To complete the assembly of the other end, repeat steps 1 to 10.