In Professor Juan Rodriguez’s Networking & Data Communications course (INFT 201-01), Guttman students learned a fundamental technological skill—how to make RJ45 cables. RJ45 cables are essential cables in networking; more specifically, as Joksan Erhlich Banegas Moran, a student in the class, describes, “RJ45 or twisted pair cables are cables with four wire pairs (eight wires) inside. With eight pins on the port used for networking (wired Ethernet connection).” Students in INFT 201 used patch cables and RJ45 connectors as well as a crimper tool for the assembly of the actual cables. Joksan notes that knowing how to create RJ45 cables “is a skill that everyone in IT should have.” Joksan is currently majoring in Information Technology at Guttman College, and, upon graduation, he is looking forward to transferring to a four-year college to pursue a career in computer science.
Joksan approves of the hands-on approach of (INFT 201) while another student in INFT 201 Bryan Yu describes in greater detail his own experience of making cables. “At first, it was easy because we just needed to cut the cable and cut the plastic so that we could use the wires of the RJ45,” says Bryan. “However, it got difficult when we were inserting the eight wires into the RJ45 jack.” Bryan emphasized the importance of patience in completing the task, particularly given the challenge of inserting the wires into the jack.
Bryan, who, like Joksan, is majoring in Information Technology at Guttman, hopes to have a career in cyber security. He says the ability to make RJ45 cables is a skill that will serve him well in the future. “It is important since it is a small step to enter the world of networking. What I learned is that teamwork and collaboration require patience.”
