Homemade XBox Link Cable

Find the center of your standard Ethernet cable. Use a razor blade to gently make an incision in the protective skin of the cable. Do not cut the wires underneath the skin. Twist the cable in a circular motion while holding the blade steady to slice open a full section of the cable.

Repeat the same process 6 inches from the first incision. Do not damage the eight smaller wires beneath the Ethernet skin. Cut the section of cable between the two openings lengthwise with your razor. Remove this section of the skin completely, exposing a 6-inch section of the Ethernet cable.

Separate all four of the orange and green wires from the blue and brown wires. Cut all four of the orange and green wires in half (including the solid orange and green wire and the orange/white and green/white wires), leaving the blue and brown wires intact. Clean both ends of the freshly cut wires by individually heating up the ends with a lighter for two seconds and then pinching off the insulation with your thumb and index fingernails.

Cut four slots of terminal block with your razor. Loosen the screws on each slot with a Philips screwdriver and insert the clean ends of the green and orange wires following this pattern: white/green connects to white/orange, white/orange connects to white/green, green connects to orange and orange connects to green.

Ensure that the wires connect to each other through the terminal block and tighten the screws. Bind up the terminal block along with the other four wires (brown and blue) with electrical tape to insulate and protect the wires. Tie the cable in a standard, loose double-knot at the terminal block to alleviate stress on the connection. Link up the two Xbox systems with your new crossover cable and test it out.