How to Wire a Category 5 Patch Panel
- 1). Pull enough of the Cat5 cable to get to the patch panel with a few inches left over.
- 2). Strip approximately 1-1/2 inches of the outer protective jacket from the cable.
- 3). Fan the inner wires out in your hand. All patch panels have a guide showing where each colored wire should go.
- 4). Start with the wire on the upper left of the RJ-45 jack. Place the correct color wire, according to the legend on the patch panel, at the connector.
- 5). Place the punchdown tool against the wire you just placed at the connector. The orientation of the tool is important. The punchdown tool can only be held two ways. One way will cut the wire without punching the wire in and the other will punch the wire into the connector. Hold the punchdown tool so that the side that says "Cut" is away from you and cannot be read. With the punchdown tool held against the connector, press the tool firmly until you hear a click. Release the tool but do not remove it from the connector. Press the tool a second time to cut the excess wire.
- 6). Repeat Step 5 for all eight of the wires in the Cat5 cable. Remove all excess wire after you have punched in all the wires.
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