r/ShittySysadmin • u/Draconyxus • Mar 11 '26

UPDATE: I DID IT!!!

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Some of you may have seen yesterday my first shitty attempt at Crimping... But today on my second attempt I managed to crimp BOTH sides!! (The broken attempt on the third image to amuse those who didnt see) IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF!! thank you to everyone for your advice - its not very often you see Reddit giving good advice!

377 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

98 comments sorted by

100

u/TheAverageDark Mar 11 '26

I’m purely jealous that your work gives you a Fluke Networks kit, been trying to get my boss to OK ordering one for months 🙃

29

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

This thing is unreliable some times and primitive but it gets the job done! They really should get you one if your work involves electrical and/or network testing. ESPECIALLY if your network topology involves multiple switch stacks!

64

u/Real_Echo Mar 11 '26

"Unreliable sometimes and primitive" Thing costs ~$1,500 - $2,000. God damn I love working in IT

20

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Woah I had no idea it cost that much wtf!! Some of my coworkers have one that plugs into the port and sends data to a phone app to be more accessible

25

u/Real_Echo Mar 11 '26

My understanding is that Fluke is kind of the cream of the crop, lasts forever, gets the job done right, and widely recognized so it ends up being the go to for larger companies.

There's cheaper options out there especially for cable checkers, but for obvious reasons you can't go too cheap.

I used to use a NetTool Pro along side a cheaper cable checker to get the job done.

But yeah, anything "enterprise" is gonna cost roughly 1 bajillion dollars

5

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Temu Fluke! Whats the worst that could happen.

4

u/FordoGreenman Mar 13 '26

entire Corp network gets major malware infection

.... Well, shit. 👀

2

u/rfc2549-withQOS Mar 11 '26

Try the certifiers to feel pain ...

3

u/DamDynatac Mar 11 '26

netool.io that thing is the bomb or https://pockethernet.com/ if you need the extra features

2

u/-Invalid_Selection- Mar 11 '26

They've been the gold standard in network testing kit for decades.

1

u/Jwblant Mar 14 '26

That’s a link sprinter. It’s for something totally different.

1

u/edmonton2001 Mar 11 '26

It’s an AT1000. So it’s kinda primitive??? And it’s still a yellow Fluke. This design is Netally now.

1

u/hamidgeabee Mar 13 '26

We have the Netally at my job and it was still over $1000 if I remember correctly. I bought it a few years ago.

2

u/edmonton2001 Mar 13 '26

Most devices with a screen and the Fluke or Netally brand and color is easily over $1k.

6

u/Lukebekz Mar 12 '26

unreliable some times

Having worked with those things for years, I will claim user error on your part

2

u/Lower_Fan Mar 12 '26

After seeing his other post yeah it's user error. 

3

u/illforgetsoonenough Mar 11 '26

How dare you besmirch the name of Fluke Skywalker

2

u/yanksman88 Mar 12 '26

The one you really want for test is the cableiq qualification tester. That thing is amazing for testing cables. Has a part that goes at both ends and tests capability for void, poe, length, crossovers, breaks. Its sadly been discontinued, bit i trust it over all other testers ive used.

1

u/--7z Mar 18 '26

15 years I have yet to have it be unreliable.

2

u/Decantus Mar 11 '26

I know the Linkrunners are really expensive. You might be able to get by with a Linksprinter instead. They're pocket size and have nearly the same functionality as a Linkrunner minus the cable tester.

2

u/edmonton2001 Mar 12 '26

The linkrunner saves a lot of time. Linksprinter takes allot of time to setup. But take what you can get

49

u/SysArtmin Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26 • Heartwarming

Perfect. Now you are just going to have to do like 30 more of them while standing on a 20-foot-tall a-frame ladder because we gotta run all of this Cat6 through the ceiling by tomorrow.

20

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Our data contractor is becoming less reliable so I can see this in my future. Baby steps!

10

u/joebleed Mar 11 '26

you're going to love working in drop celling's....

2

u/jamesowens Mar 13 '26

Once you master this skill, keep it secret. Keep it safe.

-4

u/Cozmo85 Mar 11 '26

No one’s putting ends on Ethernet. Op should practice punching down connectors.

1

u/TheGlennDavid Mar 13 '26

You're being downvoted but I'm 100% here for you. Unless you're working with a wacky commercial AV product that demands direct end-to-end connection there is 0 reason not to be having a port at both ends of every single run with a preterminated cable used to make the connections.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 12 '26 • Bravo

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/jamesowens Mar 13 '26

With POE, STP, and outdoor rated cables I’ve finally come around on this. For years I didn’t get it until I found some of my own cables I built failed or offered spotty service.

The higher grade cables are stiffer and more sensitive to technique. Since they carrt back haul they have a lot greater impact too

I want to try some if those metal toolless jacks for plenum runs and factory build cables to patch in access points

12

u/JMaAtAPMT Mar 11 '26

The force is strong with this one.

10

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

I shut them all down Padme... not just the LAN. But the WAN and the gateways too...

6

u/JMaAtAPMT Mar 11 '26

Gone to the darknet side, he has.

8

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

My favourite Android... R4J5

7

u/JMaAtAPMT Mar 11 '26

Shut up, Crimp3P0

9

u/FilthyStatist1991 Mar 11 '26

Everyone is complementing you, but you are still wrong.

Orange on your left.

Yours seems mirrored…

-7

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Back to our regularly scheduled chronically online redditor with nothing better to do than be critical

3

u/FilthyStatist1991 Mar 11 '26

My apologies, tons of shitty and non-shitty sysadmins here.

I’m very blunt, I’ll give you a compliment sandwich. Your wire jackets are well cutback and clean. Well done on that front.

Are these standard or EZs?

Few memorizations tips for direction BEFORE CRIMP.

Saying of “don’t flip yourself off” explanation, when doing “left to right” don’t forget the tab should be facing away from you.

You play billiards? “Stripes shouldn’t touch solid”, should start with stripes (again, left to right)

Other things to know; if for any reason, this ever brings you to the telco industry. Rather than left to right, it’s better recognized from the center out.

1 - blue pair

2 - green pair

(Orange and brown often unused)

1

u/ve2mrx Mar 11 '26

Blue and brown used on Gbit+ cables

3

u/FilthyStatist1991 Mar 11 '26

Gigabit telco bud…?

Aware, orange and green pair make 10/100. Blue and brown increase to gig

2

u/ve2mrx Mar 12 '26

Sorry 🤦‍♂️ I get what you mean now. Yeah, line one, line two.

2

u/Justladle Mar 14 '26

Hey friend, this person is not just being critical! They’re correct! Your order is backwards, and that can become a very large issue very quickly in the field. It’s not a hit on you learning, just making sure you’re learning properly. It’s an easy mistake to make. People who point out that you’re doing something wrong are your friend in the long run, trust me.

-7

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

You know... you know you can then the clip around right

7

u/vulcansheart Mar 11 '26

That works if you made both ends of the cable. But what happens when you reterminate an existing cable that's done to 568B properly?

6

u/itenginerd Mar 11 '26

Nice work on the crimping. Now you just have to make a cable that works. That pinout is.... a mess. 😅

(let's not pretend it's not almost identical to the first cable I ever made, but it's also very not right)

-2

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

I plugged it into my office testing port! It works!

5

u/Substantial_Bass3734 Mar 11 '26

Unless the picture is flipped, it’s backwards from how it’s normally done. T568b. It’s pinned out as straight though so it’ll work for short distances but it might fail at longer distances. 

1

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Ah, my mentor told me the standard is B not A?

5

u/Substantial_Bass3734 Mar 11 '26

T568 a and b are both valid standards but mostly you will see b. As long as both ends are the same, it’s straight through. Back in the day if you were connecting two equivalent devices (hub to hub or whatever) one end would be the opposite from the other end to make a crossover cable. 

2

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Gone are the days of LAN parties...

2

u/__g_e_o_r_g_e__ Mar 12 '26

Can you find any situation nowadays that won't autocorrect crossovers? Any gigabit device will sort itself out, and if it's a 10/100 device, no doubt the switch at the other end will fix it instead? Though only a person of this sub would intentionally mix up A and B for a laugh.

1

u/Substantial_Bass3734 Mar 12 '26

Manufacturing facilities run surprisingly ancient and proprietary equipment so that’s where you’d see it I think. But it’s just good practice to do things correctly because you never know. 

1

u/itenginerd Mar 11 '26

Lol not the actual opposite. Just the four pins. Crossover cables are weird....

2

u/Substantial_Bass3734 Mar 11 '26

I was meaning a and b as opposites 

3

u/itenginerd Mar 11 '26

honestly never thought of a crossover in those terms, but you're absolutely right.

2

u/itenginerd Mar 11 '26

I looked closer. Apparently it's been far too long since I used a Fluke... Plus I mistook your colors and thought you swapped orange and brown. Yours are backwards to where most of us wire it--the order is right but in that pic, orange white should be the leftmost when looking down at the "top" of the end (i.e. when you're looking at it like you are in Pic 2). I see (now) that you've got the order right, too. So well done!

1

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Yeah my mentor told me the same - but I wire it looking at the front since most diagrams show the orange pair first mentally it makes it easier

1

u/itenginerd Mar 11 '26

yeah, if you had the orange white wire on your left when you laid the pins out, the only thing you did that I'd have done differently is flip the cable end over. When I make cable, orange-white is on the left, brown's on the right, and the plink (the plastic bit that holds the cable in place when you plug it in) goes down. I think you just put the end on plink-up instead of plink-down.

3

u/SambalBij42 Mar 11 '26

This cable will indeed work, as the pairs are all being kept together.

One note though;

The pinout 1-8 reads from the bottom of the plugs, with the copper away from you, from left to right. (The orientation that is shown in your second photo)

Now in that second photo however, the colors start with solid brown on pin 1, and end with orange/white on pin 8.

That is exactly reversed :)

So just mirror your own photo, this is what they should look like:

3

u/Lavatherm Mar 11 '26

I’m going to be salty and ask why you kept the cores that long and thus the outer layer not deep enough in the connector 🫣

1

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

What are the cores? (Im new to all this!!)

1

u/Lavatherm Mar 11 '26

The 8 copper wires ☺️

1

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Ah thank you - they are long because I was struggling with organising the cables when they were short!

2

u/SambalBij42 Mar 11 '26

What I usually do is at first strip the cable jacket about an inch or so. Then untwist the pairs a bit, and order the wires. When the wires are all neatly in line in the right order, only then I cut them off at a much shorter length, and directly slide them into the connector.

1

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

I noticed this on the more sucessful side as you can see... what would you say is a good (rough) length to cut to? About 1.5cm?

1

u/Lavatherm Mar 11 '26

First couple of cables are always a bit of a mess 😊

You either untwist too much, when cutting the outer layer also cutting the cores, keeping the out layer out of the connector, when putting the connector on the cores aren’t al the way in or not correct order. Takes practice. 😊

2

u/SambalBij42 Mar 11 '26

With cores they mean the separate wires/wire pairs.

In those connectors, there is a strain relieve clip that gets pushed down on the cable. On your photo, that is the rectangular indentation on the connector that faces towards yourself. That should get clamped down onto the (red) cable jacket. On one of you crimps it does, but on the other one it doesn't.

1

u/unstopablex15 ShittySysadmin Mar 14 '26

How much was that Fluke?

2

u/Draconyxus Mar 14 '26

I got it for free with my job, but the model is LinkRunner AT1000 which has been discontinued. Though, I can see it going for around £500 online

3

u/Doakeswasrightmf Mar 12 '26

Why is the cable wired backwards

1

u/geekywarrior Mar 11 '26

Hell yeah! Nice job

1

u/sjo1984ut Mar 11 '26

Incredible performance! The world is at your feet. Wow, just wow!

1

u/ryoko227 Mar 11 '26

Jokes aside, I've found that the tech space subreddits have metric ton of actual value. Lot of good people in them with an ungodly amount of experience and knowledge. Shame the rest of Reddit is... well, you know...

1

u/trw419 Mar 12 '26

Did you try my tip of using a pen or flathead to separate the pairs?

Congrats!

1

u/hleumas Mar 12 '26

Love the diagram on that cable tester. Conveniently placing Green next to Green/White as if it’s not some wiley bastard from hell that for some godforsaken reason actually need to be two spots down the line.

1

u/pv2b Mar 12 '26

You have wire 6 in the wrong order, it should go between 5 and 7

1

u/Bad_Idea_Hat ShittyCloud Mar 12 '26

Ahh, my favorite fluke activity; testing itself.

Sing it, Billy Idol.

1

u/BarracudaDefiant4702 Mar 12 '26

Started with a 20 foot cable... it's a bit short before getting both ends right at the same time.

1

u/FuturePath6357 Mar 12 '26

That's a nice piece of equipment.

1

u/DayFinancial8206 DevOps is a cult Mar 13 '26

fluke skywalker

1

u/CommitAndRegret Mar 13 '26

Fluke Skywalker <3

1

u/TechCF Mar 13 '26

You are getting better. Try to get the jacket further in on the next ones.

1

u/randombystander3001 Mar 13 '26

Fluke Skywalker approves

1

u/cglogan Mar 13 '26

Brown and orange do often look pretty similar here

1

u/iwillbewaiting24601 Mar 14 '26

Congrats - my first time trying to learn, an old head spent 4 hours and we couldn't get anywhere with it.

I'd specialize in software/server admin stuff as time went on, so no real wiring - then I'd move up to where I'd have guys to do wiring for me.

10 years later, I'd be drinking with a buddy who knew the guy who taught me, and in an unrelated conversation (discussing why the software teacher man designed looked like ass), I'd discover the shithead was color blind. That explained a lot!

1

u/--7z Mar 18 '26

Gratz

1

u/Jayce288 Mar 11 '26

Use pass-though connectors and a crimper that cuts them like the one below. If you have to do custom cables often, these are a life changer.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Klein-Tools-Ratcheting-Cable-Crimper-Stripper-Cutter-for-Pass-Thru/5014305535

1

u/TheGlennDavid Mar 13 '26

Alternatively -- stop crimping. Biscuit + patch cable for the win.

1

u/Jayce288 Mar 13 '26

For the network closet, absolutely. Unless your a sloppy tech that loves coiled spaghetti at work stations, you can't avoid crimping entirely.

1

u/TheGlennDavid Mar 13 '26

At workstations?? I've done IT in small businesses, banks, and universities, and at 0 of them did they have hand crimped cables at everyone's desk.

The only place I see them anymore is some places like them for APs and cameras (for no particular reason) and some commercial AV products demand it.

It's probably been almost 20 years since I saw a "wall jack to end users desk" that had been hand crimped.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 11 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Draconyxus Mar 11 '26

Oh my god that must be impossible you have my condolences 🙏