In Step 1, the cable jacket is stripped back and the exposed shield is dressed back over the jacket, the individual wires are then inserted into the preLink® termination block according to their color codes. Step 2 shows the block being inserted into the preLink® crimping tool. A single operation of the crimping tool and the IDC contacts engage the copper wire while at the same time the excess wire is trimmed from the end of the block. Finally, Step 3 shows how the wired preLink® termination block can be snapped onto a variety of different preLink® mating connectors.