Wiring a network socket – here’s how!

You need to wire a network socket, but you don’t know how it’s done? Good thing you came to our blog. I will explain to you how, with the right tools and a little dexterity, you can wire your network socket in a few simple steps!

With the WEICON TOOLS Cable Scissors No. 35, you can shorten the network cable (Cat. 7) a little bit, if required. If you have too much cable left, it will be harder to tuck it away in the cavity wall box in the end.

If you want to wire a network socket, you need to strip the Cat. 7 cable in the first step. This is when our Stripper No. 2 Cat comes into play. Use side A to remove the outer sheath. Thanks to the precise adjustment of the blade, you don’t need to worry about damaging the conductor. Don’t remove the braided shield, that is now visible, but wrap it carefully around the cable.

Now remove the foil shield, which covers the individual wires of the twisted-pair conductors. To do so, use side B of our tool and make sure only to strip a few centimetres. The rest of the foil should be removed as late in the process as possible.

Wiring the Cat. 7 cable

In the next step, take the mounting plate of the network socket and the screwdriver, insert the cable into the strain relief, which requires some dexterity, and screw it down.

Now it get’s a little tricky. But don’t worry, you can do that, too! On the circuit board of the nework socket, the colour coding indicates in which order the wires need to be connected. You can also consult the wiring guide of the manufacturer. Whether you stick to colour code A or B depends on which code has been used so far throughout the rest of the house. It’s important that you stay consistent in using the same colour code! In this example, we have terminated the individual wires according to standard B.

Now you sort the wire pairs, take the circuit board of the network socket and run the wires through the board to the front in the designated spaces. Now you can remove the rest of the foil shield and unravel the pairs.

In the next step, a crucial tool comes into play: our LSA Sensor No. 40. With this handy tool and a little pressure, you can punch down the wires one by one according to the colour coding into the terminals. At the same time, the tool automatically removes protruding cable rests.

Now all that’s left to do is to screw on the frame of the network socket, place the whole socket inside the wall and attach the plastic cover. As I said before: With a little dexterity and the help of our tools, wiring a network socket is easily done.

You can also watch my video tutorial on “how to connect a network socket“ here! The socket in the video has two ports, but basically, the installation is still the same.

Written by guest author Gerold Specking – product management WEICON TOOLS