I recently moved into a new house and decided to make my own Ethernet cable. After some trial and error, I ended up with a cable that I think should work. My new place has Wi-Fi but no internet connection yet, so I wanted to test this new cable. I plugged it into my laptop and the modem, and I noticed the Ethernet icon in the bottom right of Windows started flashing, although the square behind the cable icon was still grayed out. Does this flashing mean my cable is good, or does it indicate a problem? I know a cable tester would help, but I don't want to buy one for just this cable since I expect data to be available in a couple of days. Any advice would be appreciated!
3 Answers
For wiring, make sure it goes like this: orange-white, orange, green-white, blue, blue-white, green, brown-white, brown. You don’t need an internet connection to test it with your modem and computer right now. Just plug it in, and if the modem is set to distribute IPs, you should be good to go. If not, you might have to assign a static IP that fits the default range of your modem.
Just a heads up, the icon you’re seeing is based on Windows 11. Even if it looks stable, remember that a solid connection doesn’t always mean you’ll have internet access. Just keep an eye on those details!
To really test your cable, it’s best to have another device connected to the other end. If you have another laptop or computer with an RJ45 port, you can connect them directly and set static IP addresses to see if they can ping each other. It’s also worth considering picking up a cable tester since they’re pretty cheap and handy in situations like this. Plus, you might need it in the future!
Oh, modern Windows versions can auto-connect over a direct cable without needing much setup. Just pop open the command prompt and type 'ipconfig'. If you see an IP address, your connection is good! Just keep in mind that miswiring can happen, which might slow things down a bit.
You’re right! I connected it and checked with 'ipconfig', and it shows a LAN connection, which means it works! Thanks a ton!