RJ45 connectors lesson

[Kentg]

Before I started my upgrade I bought cat6 cable. The fiber optics were bing installed in our neighborhood and ditching DSL for fiber was a no brainer and thats when I decided to upgrade my camera as well. I pulled in two runs initally to the spare bedroom I use from the other end of the house where the utilities and come in and where the original cam is mounted on the garage.
I put a wall plate in with 4 terminals and one is dedicated to the fiber incoming and the others are intended for cams.
I didnt have my new camera yet but when I ordered the cable from cables plus I think and they had a kit of 250 feet of solid wire and about 20 connectors and a cheap crimp tool.
First lesson I learned is the crimp tool wasnt worth throwing away. I aquired a quality crimper and borrowed a Fluke hand held cable tester. I terminated the patch cable to the keystone jack and the other end in the attic just to have it ready and made another patch cable to go from the wall to the router for the soon to be completed fiber install. I checked both cables and had to redo one end of the patch cable and they tested OK.
The fiber optic guys showed up and did their thing using the second cable I had ran but I let them terminate it themselves. Good to go,,fast fast fast.

So by then I had my new camera and was ready to connect it and make sure it was good before I hung it on the house. Used a couple short premade cables to plug in Poe injector and hooked up the cam and it was all good to go.
I take the cam and plug it in up in the attic just to be safe and boo hiss got a not detected error.
I use the Fluke microscanner again and it shows wiremap is good, I can see the hub and speed. I can even see the length of the cable 110 feet and cant understand why. I go back and do the same test with a short premade cable and same results except the length was shorter.

WTF??? So I took a chance and cut off the cam end of my long cable and redid it. The connectors supposedly do not need to be stripped since the bayonets will make connection when crimping but after I threaded on the small plastic guide I partially stripped the wires on the bayonet side. Put the insert in the body, checked the alignment of wires and crimpted. Camera now OK.

What bugs me is the Fluke showed the wire map was good using the end plug and plugging it into the cable when attached to the router it showed the hub same as before with no changes. Yet now the cam is detected and working.

I dont do a lot of ethernet cable stuff. I am more used to amphenol type connectors for industry but those are going to ethernet now for a lot of things.

I didnt think the quality of the RJ45 connectors was a big deal but I may be wrong.

Anyone else ever come accross this? Sorry for the long post but I wasted far too much time dicking around with this.

 

[pal251]

Make sure you are using quality connectors. I use the ez rj45 crimper and can do one in about a minute now without problems. It's great

 

[Michelin Man]

Remember that there are many different types of RJ45 connectors, CAT5E, CAT6, CAT6A, solid core, stranded core and etc. It's sad to see many cablers don't know this or don't give a flying f**k and use the same stuff everywhere.

The cheap connectors usually have poor metal used for the contacts and in a short while will corrode and be useless.

Crimper makes a big difference. A cheap crimper might crimp too much and cause the tab (both the cable lock and the push tab) to break or crimps at an angle and not seat every contact properly.

When testing cables you have to visually inspect it as well, not just purely on the cable tester. Then again you have to know what you're looking at.

 

[pal251]

You using stranded or solid cable for the runs?

 

[Kentg]

You using stranded or solid cable for the runs?

Solid 24 gage

 

[Kentg]

Remember that there are many different types of RJ45 connectors, CAT5E, CAT6, CAT6A, solid core, stranded core and etc. It's sad to see many cablers don't know this or don't give a flying f**k and use the same stuff everywhere.

The cheap connectors usually have poor metal used for the contacts and in a short while will corrode and be useless.

Crimper makes a big difference. A cheap crimper might crimp too much and cause the tab (both the cable lock and the push tab) to break or crimps at an angle and not seat every contact properly.

When testing cables you have to visually inspect it as well, not just purely on the cable tester. Then again you have to know what you're looking at.

Who is a reliable source for good connectors? I have a good ratchet type crimper now after shit canning the cheap one.

 

[Michelin Man]

If you are in the US I have absolutely no idea. Maybe someone else can chime in.

If you stay away from the really cheap stuff you should be ok. Just make sure you get the right plugs for the cable and you should be good.

 

[fmflex]

+1 for the EZ RJ45 crimper it makes it so much easier to fit off compliant CAT6 plugs.

 

[Git]

+1 for the EZ RJ45 crimper it makes it so much easier to fit off compliant CAT6 plugs.

EZ-RJ45 Crimper AND Connectors
http://www.amazon.com/One-Step-Gold-Standard-Supplies/dp/B00SGIZLGQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444323224&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=ez+rj45&psc=1

 

[slackwolf]

I've never had any issues with the Platinum tools brand connectors for cat5e and cat6. I don't fool with their EZ-RJ45 as I'm just as quick with the standard and they are cheaper. In the past I always used Ideal and never had any issues until a recent batch, the plastic was slightly over-sized and was a snug fit in my crimpers as well as any jacks. Had about 300 cat6 connectors from ideal in that last batch that were that way. They were great for a connection you didn't want removed though lol

Crimpers, I'm still using my 6 year old pair of Greenlee ratcheting crimpers that have probably done 2,500+ RJ45's and 500-1000 of mix RJ11 and RJ12. My last pair that was 3-4 years old had 2,000+ RJ45's before it had issues after loaning to a coworker that I guess was trying to crimp gravel.... Greenlee swapped them out under warranty without question to the set I'm using now. Backup pair is a cheap Klein set and a then a UTP die set for my AMP crimper. For STP I just use the shielded die set for my AMP crimper and Tyco/AMP connectors.

My D-snips and jacket stripper are old Harris tools before Fluke Networks acquired. Backup sets are Fluke Networks.

 

[Michelin Man]

I've heard guys in the industry even changing out crimp tools every so often before they go bad. As it's cheaper to have the job done right than to have to do it again.

Too bad quality tools here are very expensive. It's not like you guys in the US who have many manufacturers of quality tools for fairly affordable prices.

For a person like me who doesn't do many terminations a year it wouldn't be feasible to buy a quality crimp tool.

 

[fmflex]

I disagree and would rather pay more for a higher quality crimper knowing it'll go the distance. In your case it's quality investment that'll last a lifetime. I still have my original RJ45 crimpers and they still crimp as good as the day I got them 9 years ago. I use them when I'm only working on CAT5e. I've also got a pair of Crescent brand crimpers I picked up as a backup which I've not really had to use very often as my main crimpers still work great. It's usually when someone has borrowed my crimpers that I use them.

 

[wcrowder]

All you need.

http://www.amazon.com/CAT-6-Inserts-100-Pack-Intellinet-790239/dp/B004SBV62S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1445904041&sr=8-3&keywords=Intellinet+RJ45+Modular+Plugs

http://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-VDV226-107-Compact-Ratcheting/dp/B00F6K5SY2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445903988&sr=8-1&keywords=klein+tools+rj45+crimper

http://www.amazon.com/Klein-Tools-2100-8-Free-Fall-Stainless/dp/B0015SBIL6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445904156&sr=8-1&keywords=Klein+2100-8

 

[Michelin Man]

I disagree and would rather pay more for a higher quality crimper knowing it'll go the distance. In your case it's quality investment that'll last a lifetime. I still have my original RJ45 crimpers and they still crimp as good as the day I got them 9 years ago. I use them when I'm only working on CAT5e. I've also got a pair of Crescent brand crimpers I picked up as a backup which I've not really had to use very often as my main crimpers still work great. It's usually when someone has borrowed my crimpers that I use them.

I totally agree on quality crimp tools, it's just when you get one of the good ones it's a couple hundred from the stores (I suspect most of that cost is profit). I would rather put that money into other tools I would use more often. I have many 'hobbies' in different fields, so having tools for all of them gets very expensive.

I just borrow a mates for when I need to do a few here and there.

I've seen the lower budget end crimp tools, they seem ok, Haven't use any personally. Last time I had to use those horrible green handled ebay special for mate who needed an ethernet connection out in the shed. Still working good today after a few years.

 

[wcrowder]

I totally agree on quality crimp tools, it's just when you get one of the good ones it's a couple hundred from the stores (I suspect most of that cost is profit). I would rather put that money into other tools I would use more often. I have many 'hobbies' in different fields, so having tools for all of them gets very expensive.

$32 dollars on Amazon, I have the $235.00 Ideal crimps, don't know where they are right now, haven't used them since 3 years ago when I found these, don't care. I really do this for a living. This is not an ad for Klein, I'm not loyal. This one tool is all you need, fits in your pocket, pushes the pins down uniform and firm. Trust me, if something comes out that's better, I'll buy it.

 

[jaypes]

Solid 24 gage

Although most will work either way, you need to use the proper crimp plugs for solid and for stranded - good pic here http://images1.cableorganizer.com/articles/solid-stranded-rj45-connectors/identify-solid-stranded-rj45.png

Stranded basically stabs the cable and solid wraps around - you can see them as 3 prongs for solid and 2 for stranded when un-crimped.

 

[wcrowder]

Although most will work either way, you need to use the proper crimp plugs for solid and for stranded - good pic here http://images1.cableorganizer.com/articles/solid-stranded-rj45-connectors/identify-solid-stranded-rj45.png

Stranded basically stabs the cable and solid wraps around - you can see them as 3 prongs for solid and 2 for stranded when un-crimped.

Stranded wire should never be used in lengths over 25', (that's in the standards), solid never more then 100m, (330').

 

[AlpineWatch]

Stranded wire should never be used in lengths over 25', (that's in the standards), solid never more then 100m, (330').

Can you post a link to the standards please ? (stranded vs solid)

 

[zero-degrees]

Can you post a link to the standards please ? (stranded vs solid)

Honestly @AlpineWatch its best to always use solid - stranded/cca is junk and the connectors have a tendency to fail because they can't make a solid connection into the strands because of how brittle they are, it just splits them and in many cases just breaks them. Below is a link to some info from one of the top cable manufactures in the US as to why CCA is just garbage.
http://www.belden.com/blog/datacenters/CCA-Cable-5-Reasons-To-Stay-Away.cfm

 

[AlpineWatch]

Honestly @AlpineWatch its best to always use solid - stranded/cca is junk and the connectors have a tendency to fail because they can't make a solid connection into the strands, it just splits them. Below is a link to some info from one of the top cable manufactures in the US as to why CCA is just garbage.
http://www.belden.com/blog/datacenters/CCA-Cable-5-Reasons-To-Stay-Away.cfm

Stranded and CCA don't go hand in hand. There is non-cca stranded out there. I've got pull boxes of both that were bought back when CCA didn't exist.
I'm just looking for the info that stranded cannot be run as long as solid, like an attenuation table.