I had CAT6 cable pulled through our new house in various strategic locations.  In my master closet there is a set of outlets up high so I can run a POE wireless access point attached to the ceiling at a location that is out of the way, and central to the house.  Another set goes to my office so my 3D printer and office computer can be hard wired to the network.  Everything comes together to a network closet with a paper printer, NAS, and other local devices all wired in.  The result is good wireless coverage everywhere and super fast/reliable connection to important devices.  It did require a large number of custom cables though.

I picked up a few special tools, but by the time I got done, I really only used two.  First, you will need a good set of delicate side cutters like these.  I used crimp on connectors that let the wires pass through, and a strain relief boot.  Start by sliding the boot down the cable.

I used the side cutters to slit up the side of the jacket, then try to cut the jacket as square as possible. CAT6 has a central + shaped member, cut that away and make sure you have ~2 inches of wire free.  Check for nicks or kinks in the cable.

With the wires free, untwist each pair back to the jacket and straighten each pair.  When untwisted, they still have a lot of curl to them (see the blue pair on the left).  To get these straight I pinch each pair between my thumb and forefinger tightly and pull.  A few pulls has them mostly straight and calm.  It may take practice tries to get the hang of it.  Don’t skip this step, it helps everything else.  If they aren’t straightening you need to squeeze harder when you pull.

With those pairs all straightened out, arrange them in the proper order.  I use the 568B spec.  Notice the ends are a little wild still?  I could never get the very ends right, I think cutting the cable cold works the copper into a bad shape.  I always cut the last 1/4″ or so, and make sure it is at a bit of an angle.  That gets rid of the curly ends, and helps loading later on.

Next, keep the bundled pinched together and pass it into the back of the connector.  This is where some extra length helps.  Enough room for your fingers to hold and get the wires passed through.  Connectors that don’t let you pass the wires through are a million times harder to use in my opinion.  Push it all through, make sure the order is correct, and use the extra wire length to help pull the jacket all the way up.

With everything snug and in proper order, clip the ends of the extra cable (those little side cutters again).  Now carefully pull the wires back just enough to get them recessed from the front.  Put them in a crimping tool (The only special tool you really need, and they can be had for reasonable prices) and give a good squeeze.  Slide the boot up and you are done.

I bought a connector tester that runs a voltage down every line.  After about 20 connectors I stopped using it.  I could see every wire was in the right order with these connectors and never had a miss.  After a bit of practice each connector only takes about 5 minutes.  A big spool of cable and the connectors on hand means I can make a cable for about 75 cents a cable plus ~ 5 cents a foot.  It makes my network closet neat and tidy and keeps the total cost down.