DIY Ethernet cable kits?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HQOZ4T0

I'm thinking something like this would help me to tame the nest of snakes slithering around behind my work station.

Anyone here have any experience with this or something similar? Most of my important stuff is gigabit and the longest run is about 10 or 12 feet. The bigger issue is that most things are closer. Google tells me that there is no minimum length for cabling for 1000BaseT so I can make some short snakes.

Or am I going to be buying into a headache either making the cables (with substandard tools) or having cables that malfunction in a short time?

thanks,
hank

I've used cables for years that I made with a crimping tool that looked like that one. Just make sure you have your wires lined up and can see copper on the end of the RJ-45 plug before crimping, and press down twice for good measure. If the cables aren't moving around much they should be fine made with that kit.

i'm confused, the kit you linked is cat5e which is not gigabit lan; or so I thought. you'd need cat6 for that. ((my bad, i guess cat5e is fine for gigabit, other just use cat6 for the extra headroom))

beyond that, no worries. most of these kits are great for little jumpers and exactly what you want. where the tools or parts fail is like in making 1000 crimps, or leaving the extra rj45's in your hot truck and then destroying them when you try crimping'em 3 years later. as far as i know, perfect little solution.

What's listed there is pretty standard stuff. I've used it lots. The only thing missing from that kit is a punchdown tool, but that's only necessary if you have keystone jacks or patch panels involved.

That cable tester is very basic -- it only tells you if there are any broken wires or crossed wires, it won't be able to test for quality. It's honestly enough for a beginner though.

Thanks for the replies folks. I pulled the trigger on this and made up a few cables last night. I wasted a few ends before I got good at it (and finally looked up where the wires should go ) But I got some cables that passed the tester and seem to work. It's a little fiddly getting the twisted pairs straightened out and in the right position, but with some practice and good lighting, not so hard. I find it liberating that I can make cables any length I need.

I did make a new policy that I slide the hoods on the cable before I cut the cable from the spool.