Cat6 cable properly done?

[DSD27]

Can you tell me if this cable is well done or is there something wrong?

It seems to be working with one motherboard but not with the other.

 

[matt0725]

it looks ok to me, and if it is working with one PC and not another, then it isnt the cable. Does the PC have the network drivers installed?

[Needfuldoer]

Looking from the top down (the side with the metal contacts), from left to right the wires should* be:

 

White-Orange

Orange

White-Green

Blue

White-Blue

Green

White-Brown

Brown

 

If you used the "EZ RJ" style connectors, where the wires poke all the way through and the crimp tool cuts them, make sure the cut ends are nice and clean. If the blade gets dull or out of adjustment, it can squish its way through the wires instead of cutting them neatly. This can "mushroom" them out so they touch, which isn't good.

 

That connector looks good.

 

Does the working motherboard get a full Gigabit Ethernet connection with that cable, or does it only get 100 meg? That can be a hint that there's something wrong with the cable, since Gigabit needs all four pairs but 10/100 only needs two.

 

Does the non-working motherboard work with a different cable?

 

*Yes I know about the A standard, which is the same but has the orange and green pairs swapped.

[OhioYJ]

55 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

If you used the "EZ RJ" style connectors, where the wires poke all the way through and the crimp tool cuts them

I stopped using those pass-through connectors all together.  They are "easier" but they lead to problems. The wire issues you mentioned. Plus I've run into jacks that they just plan don't fit correctly, not sure which part to blame for that one. Things always work with the regular ends. 

 

@DSD27 I'm not sure if you have a cable tester or not, but these are pretty cheap. They aren't perfect, as you can still have a "bad" connection and pass the cheaper ones, but they give you a good idea if you have the wires connected correctly, and have continuity. You can get these for like ~$10. I've been using a cheap one forever, just to test all the cables I make quickly before I install them. 

[DSD27]

1 hour ago, matt0725 said:

it looks ok to me, and if it is working with one PC and not another, then it isnt the cable. Does the PC have the network drivers installed?

The PC also works with another cable. What doesn't work is the specific combination of this cable with that PC.

The cable works in a ASRock Fatal1ty B450 Gaming K4, but is not detected by a Maximus VI Hero, which is older. Unless this is all a big coincidence and the cable went bad exactly when I switched the computers around.

[OhioYJ]

14 hours ago, DSD27 said:

Unless this is all a big coincidence and the cable went bad exactly when I switched the computers around.

This could be a sign of a bad crimp. It could have went bad when you moved the cable or it got pulled on. Have you tried the cable anywhere else? 

 

This is where one of those cable testers would be handy. 

[DSD27]

Found out what the problem was. The cable clicks into place, but it needs to be pressed inwards like 1 millimeter for the connection to work.

Asus boards don't like these larger plastic heads.

[OhioYJ]

1 hour ago, DSD27 said:

Found out what the problem was. The cable clicks into place, but it needs to be pressed inwards like 1 millimeter for the connection to work.

Asus boards don't like these larger plastic heads.

Are those the pass through ends? (The ones that the wires pass come out the ends, example).  I've found those just cause problems, like that. I've just stopped using them. There are also sockets they just plain don't fit in.

[DSD27]

9 hours ago, OhioYJ said:

Are those the pass through ends? (The ones that the wires pass come out the ends, example).  I've found those just cause problems, like that. I've just stopped using them. There are also sockets they just plain don't fit in.

I don't know... What I know is that the connector is shorter and larger. My other ethernet cables have a thinner and longer plastic head.

[Omon_Ra]

On 4/3/2025 at 11:16 AM, DSD27 said:

I don't know... What I know is that the connector is shorter and larger. My other ethernet cables have a thinner and longer plastic head.

Hard to tell from your pics, but it looks like those might be pass-through ends. You can tell by looking 'head on' at the end, where the wires inside the connector end. If you can see/touch the bare copper/insulation sticking out, it's a pass-through. If it's fully 'sealed' plastic, it's a non-pass-through. I almost always use pass-through's (EZ's) these days, but I have noticed certain RJ45 sockets don't like them for whatever reason. It's this nubbin that seems to cause issues.