Hey everyone, welcome back to My Weird Prompts. I am Corn, and I am sitting here in our living room in Jerusalem, looking at a very organized, yet somehow still chaotic, pile of electronics. It is one of those crisp February afternoons where the light hits the dust motes just right, making every single tangled wire look like a structural failure of modern living.
And I am Herman Poppleberry. That pile you are looking at, Corn, is the aftermath of our housemate Daniel’s latest productivity binge. He has been on this massive decluttering kick ever since he got that home server up and running last month. It is a classic case of digital-to-physical spillover. Once he got his Docker containers organized and his ZFS pools scrubbed, he looked at the physical world and realized it did not match the elegance of his code.
It is a noble pursuit, honestly. But it led him to a realization that I think a lot of us hit eventually. He is drowning in cables, but he is also starving for the right ones. He has got these ten-centimeter U-S-B-C cables that are too short to reach anything but a battery pack, and then these five-meter Ethernet cables coiled up behind a desk where he only needs about fifty centimeters. It is a mess of "almost right" solutions that end up being completely wrong.
It is the cable paradox. You have a hundred of them in a bin, but never the exact one you need for the task at hand. So, Daniel sent us this prompt about taking matters into his own hands. He wants to move from being a consumer of cables to a creator of cables. He is looking at D-I-Y cable making as a sustainability effort and a way to customize his setup. Specifically, he is asking about Ethernet, U-S-B-C, monitor cables, and even S-F-P cables. He wants to know if he can build a bespoke infrastructure that will last him through the next decade.
It is a big leap from just plugging things in to actually crimping and soldering your own. I love the ambition, though. It fits right into that tinkerer mindset we talk about. But I have some serious questions about the practicality of it, especially with the higher speed standards we are seeing in twenty-twenty-six. I mean, we are talking about Category Seven or Category Eight Ethernet. Herman, you have been diving into the technical manuals for this, haven't you? Is it even possible for a human with a pair of crimpers to match the quality of a factory-made high-speed cable?
Oh, you know I have. I have been reading up on the latest T-I-A and E-I-A standards because, believe it or not, what people think they know about high-end Ethernet cables is often just very effective marketing. If Daniel wants to do this right, we need to separate the hype from the hardware. The physics of data transmission at forty gigabits per second does not care about how much you paid for the box; it cares about twists per inch and shielding integrity.
Well, let's start there then. Ethernet seems like the logical entry point for D-I-Y. It is the classic "I am a real tech person now" rite of passage, right? You get the crimping tool, you get the little plastic connectors, and you spend an hour swearing at eight tiny colored wires that refuse to stay in the right order. But Daniel specifically asked about Category Seven and Category Eight. Why go for those instead of the standard Category Six we see everywhere?
This is where we need to do some serious misconception busting. Category Seven is a bit of an odd duck in the networking world. It was never actually recognized by the Telecommunications Industry Association in the United States. It is an I-S-O standard that was designed for a world that did not quite happen the way people expected. It uses a different connector called the G-G-forty-five or the T-E-R-A connector, not the standard R-J-forty-five we all know and love.
Wait, so if he buys a spool of Category Seven cable from an online retailer and tries to use standard R-J-forty-five ends, is he even getting the benefit? Or is he just making his life harder for no reason?
He is making his life much harder for zero gain. Category Seven specifies shielding for each individual pair and an overall braid shield. To get the rated performance, you need those specialized, expensive connectors to maintain the shielding all the way through to the equipment. If you put a standard plastic R-J-forty-five on it, you have basically just made a very stiff, very expensive Category Six cable. You have broken the shield continuity, which means you are not getting the interference protection you paid for.
And what about Category Eight? That is the one that is supposed to handle forty gigabits per second, right? That sounds like the ultimate future-proofing for a home lab. If Daniel is building a server that might be his primary data hub for the next fifteen years, shouldn't he go for the biggest number available?
It does sound great on paper, but Category Eight is really designed for data centers and short "top-of-rack" connections. It has a maximum length of only thirty meters. For a home, that is usually fine, but the cable itself is incredibly thick and difficult to work with. It is like trying to bend a garden hose around the corners of your baseboards. Plus, the connectors for Category Eight are often field-termination plugs rather than simple crimp-on ends. They are bulkier, they cost fifteen to twenty dollars per connector, and they require a level of precision that is hard to achieve without professional training.
So, if Daniel is looking for sustainability and longevity, what is the "sweet spot"? We do not want him building something that is obsolete in two years, but we also do not want him over-engineering a problem to the point where he gives up and just buys a bunch of cheap plastic cables from a big-box store.
In my opinion, for a D-I-Y-er in twenty-twenty-six, Category Six Alpha is the gold standard. It supports ten-gigabit speeds up to a full hundred meters. Most home equipment is only just now starting to move toward two-point-five or five gigabits as a standard, so ten gigabits gives you plenty of headroom for the foreseeable future. The wires are a bit thicker than standard Category Six, and it usually has a plastic spline in the middle to keep the pairs separated, but it still uses the R-J-forty-five form factor. It is manageable, it is fast, and it is actually a recognized standard that works with every switch and router on the market.
Okay, so let's talk tools. If he is going to start making these, what does his workbench need to look like? I know he is worried about safety and effectiveness. He does not want to spend a fortune, but he also does not want tools that break on the third use.
For Ethernet, you need a few specific things. First, a high-quality crimping tool. Do not buy the five-dollar one that feels like it is made of tin. You want one with a ratcheting mechanism. It ensures that you apply the exact right amount of pressure every time. If you do not crimp hard enough, the pins do not bite into the copper wires. If you crimp too hard, you crack the plastic connector or deform the pins. A good ratcheting tool will not release until the cycle is complete, which takes the guesswork out of it.
I have seen those "pass-through" connectors lately. The ones where the wires go all the way through the end of the plug so you can see the colors before you crimp. Are those a gimmick or a godsend? I remember the old days of trying to cut the wires to the perfect length before sliding them in, and they always seemed to jump out of order at the last second.
For a beginner? They are a total godsend. They take so much of the stress out of the process because you can verify the T-five-sixty-eight-B wiring order perfectly before you pull the trigger. You can see that the orange-white is on the left and the brown is on the right. Some purists argue that they leave a tiny bit of exposed copper at the end which could theoretically cause interference or "near-end crosstalk," but for home use at gigabit or even ten-gigabit speeds, the difference is negligible compared to the benefit of actually getting the wires in the right place. Just make sure your crimper has a built-in blade to trim those excess wires flush.
You also need a cable tester, right? I remember the first time I made a cable, it looked perfect, but it just would not link up. It turns out I had swapped the green-white and the blue-white wires. It looked right to my naked eye, but the electrons disagreed.
Absolutely. A basic continuity tester is cheap and essential. It just sends a signal down each of the eight wires to make sure they are connected to the right pins on the other side. If you want to get fancy, you can get a professional validator that actually tests the speed and crosstalk, but those cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars. For Daniel, a twenty-dollar L-E-D tester is plenty. If all eight lights blink in order on both ends, you are usually good to go.
Now, Daniel also asked about U-S-B-C and monitor cables like DisplayPort or H-D-M-I. This feels like a completely different level of difficulty. I mean, an Ethernet cable has eight wires. How many does a full-featured U-S-B-C cable have? It looks so much smaller, so I assume it is simpler?
Oh, Corn, it is the exact opposite. A full-featured U-S-B-C cable has twenty-four pins. And they are packed into a connector that is about the size of a fingernail. D-I-Y-ing a U-S-B-C cable to the full specification—meaning it supports Power Delivery, high-speed data, and video—is a nightmare. You are talking about microscopic soldering under a magnifying glass or a digital microscope. Each of those twenty-four pins has to be perfectly isolated. If two of them touch, you are in big trouble.
That does not sound very "beginner friendly." Is there even a way to do that safely at home? I can imagine Daniel sitting there with a soldering iron, accidentally bridging two pins and then plugging it into his brand-new server.
Technically, yes, if you are very skilled with a soldering iron and have a steady hand. But here is the catch: U-S-B-C cables are "active" cables. They have a tiny chip inside called an E-Marker. This chip tells the charger and the laptop how much power the cable can safely handle. If you D-I-Y a cable and you do not include that chip, or you wire it incorrectly, you could literally fry your laptop. You could send twenty or even forty-eight volts into a data line that is only meant to handle three-point-three volts. We are talking about permanent, irreversible hardware damage in a fraction of a second.
That is a huge safety concern. So, for U-S-B-C, maybe the "D-I-Y" approach is less about making the cable from scratch and more about something else? I mean, if the goal is sustainability, throwing away a cable because the housing cracked feels wrong.
Exactly. If the goal is sustainability and reducing waste, the best approach for U-S-B-C is to buy high-quality, braided cables from reputable brands that use standard specifications. If a connector breaks, you can sometimes replace just the head if you can find a repairable kit, but even that is incredibly difficult. For things like monitor cables—H-D-M-I and DisplayPort—it is even worse. Those use high-frequency differential pairs that are extremely sensitive to the length of the wire and the quality of the shielding. If your solder joint is just a millimeter too long, or if you untwist the pairs too much, the signal might degrade so much that you get "sparkles" on your screen or no picture at all.
So, we are giving a "green light" to Ethernet but maybe a "yellow or red light" to U-S-B-C and H-D-M-I for a beginner? It sounds like the complexity-to-reward ratio is just way off for the video cables.
I would say it is a red light for making them from scratch. However, there is a middle ground. You can buy "solderless" terminal blocks for things like H-D-M-I if you are trying to run a cable through a wall and you cannot fit the head through the conduit. You pull the bare wire through, then screw each strand into a little terminal block. But those are bulky and generally not great for long-term reliability. They are more for "I have no other choice" situations rather than "I want a better cable."
What about S-F-P cables? Daniel asked if those can be made at home. For those who do not know, S-F-P stands for Small Form-factor Pluggable. It is those little metal cages you see on high-end switches and servers where you can slide in a module. They are the backbone of high-speed networking.
S-F-P is fascinating. Usually, you have two options: D-A-C cables, which are Direct Attach Copper, or fiber optic transceivers. D-A-C cables are factory-terminated. The wire is actually soldered and shielded inside the S-F-P housing at the factory. You cannot really D-I-Y those because the tolerances are so tight for ten, twenty-five, or even a hundred gigabits. The cable and the connector are one single unit.
And fiber? I have seen people "terminate" fiber in professional settings, but that requires some pretty intense equipment, doesn't it? I have seen those machines that look like they belong in a surgery center.
It does. You need a fusion splicer if you want to do it the professional way, which uses an electric arc to melt two glass fibers together. Those machines cost thousands of dollars. There are mechanical connectors for fiber that you can do by hand, but they are finicky and have higher "insertion loss," meaning the signal gets weaker at the joint. For a home labber like Daniel, the most sustainable and effective way to use fiber is to buy "pre-terminated" lengths. You measure exactly how much you need, buy a cable that is already that length, and just plug it in. Fiber is actually very affordable now, and it is the ultimate future-proofing because the glass can handle almost any speed; you just change the transceivers on the ends.
So, it sounds like the real "D-I-Y" win here is Ethernet. It is the one where you can actually buy a big spool of high-quality cable, cut it to the exact centimeter you need, and end up with a cleaner, more efficient setup. It solves the "spaghetti monster" problem Daniel is facing.
Exactly. And that is where the sustainability comes in. Instead of buying ten different pre-made cables and ending up with three meters of extra slack for every single one, you buy one five-hundred-foot spool of solid copper Category Six Alpha. You make exactly what you need. No excess, no waste. And if a clip breaks on the end of a cable? You don't throw the whole cable away. You snip the end off and crimp a new one on for about twenty-five cents. That is the ultimate middle finger to planned obsolescence.
That is a great point. The repairability factor is huge. Most people throw away a three-meter Ethernet cable just because the little plastic tab snapped off and it won't stay in the port anymore. If you have the tools, that is a thirty-second fix. You are saving the copper, the plastic jacket, and the energy it would take to ship a new one to your house.
It is very satisfying, too. There is this tactile clicking sound when a good crimper finishes its cycle. It feels like you have actually built something. But we should talk about the "quality" of the components Daniel should buy. If he wants to avoid obsolescence, he needs to look at the materials, not just the Category rating on the box. In twenty-twenty-six, there is still a lot of junk on the market.
Right, because not all copper is created equal. I have heard of "C-C-A" cable. That is something people should avoid, right? It sounds like one of those things that is cheaper for a reason.
Oh, absolutely. C-C-A stands for Copper Clad Aluminum. It is aluminum wire with a very thin coating of copper on the outside. It is much cheaper to produce, but it is terrible for networking. Aluminum is more brittle, so the wires break easily if you bend them or move the cable around. It has higher resistance, so it gets hotter if you are using Power over Ethernet—which Daniel definitely will be if he is running access points or cameras from that server. And most importantly, it does not meet the official standards for Category Six or Six Alpha. If you see a deal that looks too good to be true on a thousand-foot spool, it is almost certainly C-C-A.
So, the rule is: Always look for "Pure Bare Copper."
Always. One hundred percent pure bare copper. It will be more expensive, it will be heavier, but it will last for decades. It is also much easier to crimp because the copper is more malleable than the aluminum alloy used in cheap cables. When the pins of the R-J-forty-five connector bite into pure copper, they create a solid, reliable connection. With C-C-A, they can sometimes just crush the wire or create a high-resistance point that fails later.
What about the shielding? We talked about Category Seven needing it, but if Daniel is running cables near power lines in the house, should he be looking for shielded Category Six Alpha? I know he is worried about interference from the microwave or the refrigerator.
This is a common debate in the D-I-Y community. Shielded cable, or S-T-P for Shielded Twisted Pair, is great at blocking electromagnetic interference. But—and this is a big "but"—if you use shielded cable, you must use shielded connectors, and those connectors must be plugged into grounded equipment. If you don't ground the shield properly, it can actually act like an antenna and pick up more interference than an unshielded cable would. It can also create "ground loops" that introduce noise into your system. For most home environments, Unshielded Twisted Pair, or U-T-P, is actually better because it is simpler, more flexible, and less prone to grounding issues. The twists in the wires themselves are actually designed to cancel out interference.
That is a classic "second-order effect" right there. You think you are making it better by adding shielding, but without the proper grounding, you are actually making it worse. It is like putting a lightning rod on your house but forgetting to connect the wire to the ground. You are just inviting trouble into your living room.
Exactly. It is all about the system as a whole. If Daniel is just running cables from his server to a switch in the same room, U-T-P is more than enough. If he were running cables through an industrial factory floor next to giant electric motors, then we would talk about shielding.
Let's pivot to the safety side of things. Daniel mentioned he does not want to electrocute himself. Now, Ethernet is low voltage, but are there any risks he should be aware of when he starts poking around with D-I-Y cables? Especially with Power over Ethernet becoming so common for things like Wi-Fi seven access points.
Generally, Ethernet is very safe for the person handling it. It carries very low voltage, usually around forty-eight to fifty-seven volts if Power over Ethernet is involved, and the amperage is very low. You might feel a tiny tingle if you touched the bare wires while a high-power device was active, but it is not dangerous to humans. It is not like touching a mains power line.
The real danger is what the cable is connected to, though, right? Not the cable itself.
Right. The danger is "mains" power. If you are running your D-I-Y Ethernet cables through the same holes or conduits as your house's electrical wiring, you have to be extremely careful. If a power wire's insulation rubs against your Ethernet cable's insulation and they both fray, you could suddenly have two hundred and thirty volts—here in Jerusalem—running through your network switch. That will definitely fry your equipment, and it could easily start a fire.
So, keep the data and the power separate. That seems like a fundamental rule of home networking.
At least five to ten centimeters of separation if they are running parallel. If they have to cross, try to make them cross at a ninety-degree angle. That minimizes the electromagnetic interference and the risk of accidental contact. Also, never, ever use a staple gun to secure your Ethernet cables. It is so easy to accidentally pierce the jacket and short out the wires. Use plastic cable clips or Velcro ties instead.
Good advice. Now, let's talk about the learning process. Daniel is a "details guy," as he said. He likes to watch YouTube and ask A-I for help. What is the best way to actually practice this without wasting a bunch of expensive material? I mean, Category Six Alpha is not exactly cheap if you are wasting a meter every time you mess up a crimp.
I recommend a "sacrificial" cable. Take a one-meter piece of cable and just practice putting ends on it over and over again. Crimp one side, test it with your continuity tester. If it works, snip it off and do it again. Do it until you can strip the outer jacket without nicking the insulation on the inner wires. That is the hardest part for beginners. If you cut too deep, you create a weak point where the wire will eventually snap, or you create a short circuit.
I found that using a dedicated stripping tool is much better than using a pocket knife or the blade on the crimper. The crimper blades always seem to be just a little too sharp or a little too dull.
Oh, definitely. Those little yellow "ring" strippers are great. You just spin them around the cable once or twice and it scores the jacket perfectly without touching the copper. It is all about finesse. You want to feel the blade just barely bite into the plastic. Once you have the jacket off, you have to untwist the pairs and straighten them out. I like to use the shaft of a small screwdriver to "comb" the wires straight. It makes it much easier to line them up in the correct order.
So, to summarize the roadmap for Daniel: Start with Ethernet. Buy a spool of high-quality, pure bare copper Category Six Alpha. Get a ratcheting crimper, some pass-through R-J-forty-five connectors, and a basic tester. Skip the D-I-Y U-S-B-C and H-D-M-I for now—the risk-to-reward ratio just isn't there for a beginner. And for the S-F-P stuff, go with pre-terminated fiber.
That is a solid plan. It addresses his decluttering goal because he can replace all those mismatched, tangled cables with exact-length, high-quality ones. It is sustainable because he is repairing rather than replacing. And it future-proofs his home lab for the next decade of networking speeds. Plus, he will have the satisfaction of knowing that every packet moving through his house is traveling over a physical layer he built himself.
It is also just a great skill to have. There is something very empowering about being able to "wire" your own world. It moves you from being a guest in the world of technology to being a resident. You are no longer dependent on what is available at the store; you are the master of your own connectivity.
I love that phrasing. It really is about agency. When you know how the physical layer of the internet works—literally the wires under your feet—the rest of it feels a lot less like magic and a lot more like engineering. It demystifies the whole stack.
Speaking of engineering, I am curious about the "aesthetic" side of this. Daniel is decluttering, so he probably wants things to look good. Have you looked into cable sleeving? I have seen those setups on Reddit where every cable is a beautiful braided neon color.
You mean like the braided "Paracord" style sleeves? They look amazing, but they add a whole other layer of complexity. You have to slide the sleeve on before you crimp the ends, and you have to use heat-shrink tubing to keep it from fraying. It is purely cosmetic, but if you want that "pro" look for your desk setup, it is a fun rabbit hole to go down. It doesn't make the data go any faster, but it certainly makes the server rack look like a piece of art.
Maybe that is phase two. Phase one is just getting the packets to move from point A to point B without dropping. I think Daniel would be happy just to have a desk where he can see the floor again.
Exactly. Function first, then form. Once he has mastered the crimp, he can worry about the fashion.
You know, thinking about Daniel’s home server project, it is interesting how these things cascade. You build a server, then you realize your network is slow. You upgrade the network, then you realize your cables are a mess. You fix the cables, and now you are a D-I-Y cable expert. It is a never-ending cycle of "just one more thing." It is the hobbyist's curse, but also the hobbyist's joy.
It is the "Herman Poppleberry Method" of hobbyist evolution. You start with a simple question and end up with a full-blown workshop in your spare bedroom. But honestly, it is the best way to learn. You are solving real problems in your own environment. It sticks better than just reading a textbook because the consequences are real. If you mess up, your Netflix stream stutters. That is a powerful motivator.
I agree. And I think the sustainability angle is something we should emphasize more. We live in such a "throwaway" culture with electronics. Cables are the ultimate example of that. They are treated like disposable straws—use them once, get a knot in them, throw them in a drawer, and eventually into a landfill. But a good cable is a piece of infrastructure. If you build it well, it should outlast the device it is plugged into.
That is the goal. We want the cable to be the most reliable part of the system. If your internet goes down, you want to be able to say, "Well, I know it is not the cable because I made that myself and I tested it to ten-gigabit standards." It eliminates one big variable from the troubleshooting process. It gives you confidence in your foundation.
Well, I think we have given Daniel a lot to chew on. I am actually kind of inspired to go organize my own cable drawer now. Although, knowing me, I will probably just find three more micro-U-S-B cables that I forgot to throw away five years ago. Why do we keep those? I don't even own a device that uses them anymore.
Keep one! You never know when you will find an old Kindle in a box that needs a charge. But only one. That is the rule of the declutterer. Everything else is just e-waste in waiting.
Fair enough. Before we wrap up, I want to remind everyone that if you are enjoying these deep dives into the weird and wonderful world of tech and D-I-Y, we would really appreciate a review on your podcast app. Whether you are on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, a quick rating or a few words really helps other people find the show. It is the best way to support what we do here.
It really does. We love seeing the community grow and hearing about people's projects. And if you have your own weird prompts, or if you want to see what Daniel’s home server actually looks like—or at least hear us talk about it more—you can find us at myweirdprompts dot com. We have the full archive there, plus a contact form if you want to get in touch. We might even feature your prompt in a future episode.
This has been Episode Five Hundred and Fifty-Six of My Weird Prompts. Thanks to Daniel for the inspiration today. I hope your cable management goes smoothly and your crimps are always true. May your packets be swift and your latency be low.
And remember, stay curious, stay technical, and maybe keep the soldering iron away from the U-S-B-C ports for at least a few months. Your laptop will thank you.
Wise words. Thanks for listening, everyone. We will talk to you in the next one.
Goodbye!
