Terminating low voltage Network cables, tools and connectors ??

[Shovelhead]

All new to me, this networking stuff. Thanks to two fine fellow forum members via PM's, I have learned way more than I started with, which is nothing. LOL

I have ran over 1200' of (in wall)CAT6 in our under construction new home. My questions are about the different connectors and the best tools to use to terminate all this stuff.
I have 20 cables in the wall of our master bedroom closet area. I've ran cable to everywhere a TV might live, 2 ceiling WAP locations, and 6 security camera locations.

Plan is to use a small wall mount rack and a patch panel in the closet.
Keystone jacks and wall plates to the tv locations.
WAP's and Cameras will be connected straight from the CAT6.
Connectors are RJ45. ?? male and female

I believe for all the wall jack terminations I will just use a punch down tool. ?
Best type and brand of connectors to use? I've read where some say to use the same connectors as the tool you are using. Klein crimpers and Klein RJ45's.

Now for the rest of the terminations - Patch panel and WAP's and cameras.
Was considering this rig here >>
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08DKK7QGK/?tag=atomicindus08-20


Use Pass thru connectors or not? Where to , or not to use that type?
I found some Klein crimpers that are specific to pass thru connectors but don't know if they will crimp the regular type.

Tool recommendations? I don't want junk. Even though I'll likely not do this ever again.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C8JXP6G5/?tag=atomicindus08-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R3GK9FQ/?tag=atomicindus08-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AZK4D/?tag=atomicindus08-20

What do the experts say about it all?
******* I do not know baby **** from apple butter about any of it.

Thanks

 

[nmk_61802]

I started with standard crimps, but switched to the pass thru...much easier to confirm you have the wire in the correct spots. I have this crimper:

https://www.amazon.com/VCE-100-Pack-Pass-Through-Crimping-Ethernet/dp/B08DFH7427?tag=atomicindus08-20

I personally wouldn't spend the money on Klein. Quality connectors are what will make or break an install.

Most keystone connectors are available in auto punch snap and cut configurations. I would get those and skip punchdown. I have done both.

Do you need to do a patch panel? Again I would go straight to the switch and skip the middle man unless you have a need to easily move things around (keep in mind, this can still be done with my suggestion provided you have long enough cables or extenders). I started with a small punch down panel and eventually removed it to go straight to my switch. It was just additional connections to fail.

Don't forget stain reliefs:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000I20B86/?tag=atomicindus08-20

Also get yourself an inexpensive cable checker and check each cable as you make them:

Amazon.com : lan cable checker

 

[LellowBabloon]

I am an electrician by trade but have done my fair share of low voltage/network wiring over the years, but as always take anything strangers on the internet tell you with a grain of salt.

-Yes you want to use a punchdown tool to terminate your female jacks. Make sure you are using the tip that cuts the wire off as it punches and ensure you keep the jacketing as close to the jack as possible
-Pass thru RJ45 connectors work great and shouldn't give you any issues. I have that Klein crimper and it works great. Make sure you get some of the jacketing into the the plug so when you crimp it actually holds. You should not have wires without jacketing coming out of the connector
-Ensure that you are punching all of your terminations in orientation "B" which there will likely be a diagram of in the box but if not its an easy google search. Remember the diagram layout is with the tab of the RJ45 facing down and the brass terminals facing up
-I don't know a ton about patch panels, but I believe you need a network switch more than a patch panel so that you can crimp male ends and plug it directly into the switch and you only need have one CAT6 line coming from your router to feed the entire switch. The link below is an example of one but may not be the right one for your application. You essentially need one port per line. The patch panel would still require a switch and then a connection cable for each line from patch to switch.
https://www.amazon.com/Ethernet-Splitter-Optimization-Unmanaged-TL-SG108/dp/B00A121WN6/?tag=atomicindus08-
20
-You should get a network cable tester to ensure that your connections are done properly and in the correct orientation. It's a simple fairly cheap way to ensure things are done correctly.

 

[klassenl]

-Ensure that you are punching all of your terminations in orientation "B" which there

Actually since you're north of the equator you have to punch down "A". "B" is for the southern hemisphere.

 

[haveissues]

That patch panel is fine. I have used hundreds of cable matters keystone and never had a bad one.

The punch down tool will also likely be fine. For a one off install you could also use the basic tool that will likely come with that patch panel and a pair of nippers to trim the ends for a one off install.

I have a pair of klein crimpers and I don't like them. Lots of crimps that fail but look fine although others have said they have better results if they use klein brand connectors. I have never had that problem with other brands of crimpers.

If you are planning on making patch cables you could just buy them at whatever length you need - they are cheap enough.

 

[BrandonV]

I don't know a ton about patch panels, but I believe you need a network switch more than a patch panel so that you can crimp male ends and plug it directly into the switch and you only need have one CAT6 line coming from your router to feed the entire switch.

It's never a bad idea to use a patch panel. I do telecommunications professionally and the whole purpose of the patch panel is to avoid disruptions to the structured cable in the wall/ceiling/wherever and to provide flexibility for moving equipment.

Imagine if someone dropped a 48 port network switch with cables plugged in. It could cause damage to the cabling. Or picture the situation where those cables now need to go to a rack on the other side of the room. No big deal. Just route longer patch cables.

For a home? Your call. Five 9s is my job. For things like twisted pair runs for cameras and APs I run solid twisted pair cabling from the patch panel to a single punch down jack in the attic. Then a foot patch panel to the device. Again useful when the cable needs to be replaced for UV exposure outside or the device is moved a few feet.

As someone pointed out the most critical thing here is to buy quality connectors, read their compatibility, and the recommended crimp or punch tool.

I've seen whole installations go south when people skipped reading the datasheet and used RJ45 connectors intended for stranded cable on solid and vice versa.

 

[Shovelhead]

Thanks.
I'm no stranger to crimping wire. No tellin how many eyes, forks, and **** splices I have crimped in my working life. Mostly #10 and 12 copper, control cable, switchboard wire in Substations. Enough that I've had major hand surgery on both hands. But I know nothing about this stuff.
I have struggled thinking about the patch panel thang.
I agree about going straight to the switch which is fewer connections.

But, the more I read,,, the more I found that "they say" using a patch panel for the solid CAT6 and then pre-made patch cords to the switch makes things easier to deal with then and later if need be. I don't know.

I actually never envisioned myself with a "rack" in my house. I figgered that was a nerd thing. And some of the videos I've seen are pretty lame, about dudes getting a ***** on how cool their rack looks. LOL

I'm more excited about the racks what ya find on the front of wimmen. ~grin

 

[BrandonV]

I actually never envisioned myself with a "rack" in my house. I figgered that was a nerd thing. And some of the videos I've seen are pretty lame, about dudes getting a ***** on how cool their rack looks. LOL

I only do commercial large networking and IT but my buddy who does new builds and custom houses puts these in all the time as the central point for all runs.

Structured Media Centers | Leviton Connected Home

Leviton offers a wide variety of Structured Media Centers that provide a convenient termination location for home wiring. It provides a distribution point for voice, data, and video applications in a single family residence or multi-dwelling unit (MDU).

www.leviton.com

More tolerable for the consumer since it is recessed in the wall.

I'm more excited about the racks what ya find on the front of wimmen. ~grin

Amen.

 

[Shovelhead]

Brandon, I do understand the reason for using a patch cable in those situations but, all my cables to the WAP's and cameras will be within the device connection or in the soffit, or ceiling.
Still not a good idea to terminate straight to those devices?

Thanks

 

[BrandonV]

Brandon, I do understand the reason for using a patch cable in those situations but, all my cables to the WAP's and cameras will be within the device connection or in the soffit, or ceiling.
Still not a good idea to terminate straight to those devices?

Thanks

Nope. I urge people to punch down when cable might poke out for UV reasons. Otherwise your call. I've seen contractors do both.

I only use solid for structured wiring so it can be a burden to have a service loop for future proofing that way.

As I mentioned in a different thread today there is a big difference running a cable in your house and running it in a building where the HVAC guys come in and make running additional cables impossible.

 

[CoogarXR]

Brandon, I do understand the reason for using a patch cable in those situations but, all my cables to the WAP's and cameras will be within the device connection or in the soffit, or ceiling.
Still not a good idea to terminate straight to those devices?

Thanks

I try to minimize my crimped ends, since they fail the most of any of the termination styles. That being said, they aren't terribly unreliable if they are crimped well, and left undisturbed. I wouldn't have a problem with a crimped end on a WAP that's up in the ceiling.

 

[BrandonV]

I try to minimize my crimped ends, since they fail the most of any of the termination styles. That being said, they aren't terribly unreliable if they are crimped well, and left undisturbed. I wouldn't have a problem with a crimped end on a WAP that's up in the ceiling.

Crimping has so many variables it's crazy. We had a seasoned technician crimp some Belden cable with I forgot what name brand connectors and had one of them fail. He followed all instructions for the connector, cable requirements, etc. but it was just not a good overall crimp with that combination.

Chased down a LACP error on a switch for an hour before running a certification on the run.

 

[nmk_61802]

I only do commercial large networking and IT but my buddy who does new builds and custom houses puts these in all the time as the central point for all runs.

Structured Media Centers | Leviton Connected Home

Leviton offers a wide variety of Structured Media Centers that provide a convenient termination location for home wiring. It provides a distribution point for voice, data, and video applications in a single family residence or multi-dwelling unit (MDU).

www.leviton.com

More tolerable for the consumer since it is recessed in the wall.



Amen.

I put one of these in my house. This was partially the reason I removed the patch panel. No space in these for a large switch. Originally I had phone, network and CATV run into it. Eventually I removed network from this and went straight to my 24 port switch.

 

[BrandonV]

I put one of these in my house. This was partially the reason I removed the patch panel. No space in these for a large switch. Originally I had phone, network and CATV run into it. Eventually I removed network from this and went straight to my 24 port switch.

My favorite is when they spec the metal one and then try jamming a Netgear Nighthawk inside. Overheating and signal attenuation!

 

[Blk88GT]

I'm a big fan of patch panels, I would definitely use one. If nothing else, it cleans up the location you have them all coming into.

For my camera/WAP runs I like to terminate in a keystone jack mounted to a device box mounted out of sight or in wall. I use a short patch cable to feed the device. If something happens to the patch cable, it's easily replaced vs re-doing the entire run.

Personally, I use all the Klein gear. Works great.

 

[niget2002]

I don't use punch down panels at the house. I run the cables straight from the device to the switch. I do install wall jacks where appropriate. The WAPs are direct connected and the hole through the ceiling was just big enough to squeeze the cable through.

My reasoning is that I don't punch down keystone jacks often enough to be the best at it, which means I run the risk of one more connector/connection that can fail or cause issues.

I leave enough cable in the ceiling that if I need to pull some through to re-terminate the connector on one end, I can.

I'm also not that worried about the connector failing. I'm not replacing my switching gear very often, so the cables at the switch are hardly ever touched once installed.

 

[Shovelhead]

Appreciate all the input.
I have read where they say to be sure to use the correct connectors for your application but when I shopped around I got confused as I couldn’t find the specs I was looking for. Seemed they said good for this, that and bacon fat, wide range, but nothing specific.
No one has mentioned any particular brand of connectors to use. ?
My Cat6 is 23awg solid copper.
And what type of termination.
Pass thru or not?

Thanks

 

[BrandonV]

Appreciate all the input.
I have read where they say to be sure to use the correct connectors for your application but when I shopped around I got confused as I couldn’t find the specs I was looking for. Seemed they said good for this, that and bacon fat, wide range, but nothing specific.
No one has mentioned any particular brand of connectors to use. ?
My Cat6 is 23awg solid copper.
And what type of termination.
Pass thru or not?

Thanks

Personally the choice of pass thru or not for RJ45 connections is a moot point IMO. As long as its a good connector either should work well. If you've never worked with twisted pair before the pass thru can help a ton.

I'm a big fan of these from Platinum Tools (assuming unshielded Category 6 cable). Ideally you should buy their crimping tool and die.

Platinum Tools® | Products | Connectors | ezEX-RJ45® Connectors | 100028C

www.platinumtools.com

 

[smackey05]

I do minimal crimping in my house. Through walls I have cables running to punchdown jacks. Between the wall and their connections I'm running pre-made patch cables. I typically have been buying mono-price tools and wire.

Work in progress. You can still see my netgear switch and arlo camera set up. Those are running while I am waiting for some new hardware!

 

[BrandonV]

I do minimal crimping in my house. Through walls I have cables running to punchdown jacks. Between the wall and their connections I'm running pre-made patch cables. I typically have been buying mono-price tools and wire.

Work in progress. You can still see my netgear switch and arlo camera set up. Those are running while I am waiting for some new hardware!

Nice setup. I always thought if anyone was making racks powder coated in Ubiquiti silver they'd make a fortune.

 

[kbuhagiar]

I do minimal crimping in my house. Through walls I have cables running to punchdown jacks. Between the wall and their connections I'm running pre-made patch cables. I typically have been buying mono-price tools and wire.

Work in progress. You can still see my netgear switch and arlo camera set up. Those are running while I am waiting for some new hardware!

Jeez, are you mining Bitcoin there?

 

[smackey05]

Nice setup. I always thought if anyone was making racks powder coated in Ubiquiti silver they'd make a fortune.

Thanks! Yea... they would.

Jeez, are you mining Bitcoin there?

Unfortunately not! The reason for my upgrade was an upgraded surveillance system that doesn't rely on the cloud, doesn't have a subscription cost, and better networking for our house. My YT channel has me doing a lot of file storage and transfers so I'm setting up a few 10G areas of the network.

 

[BrandonV]

Unfortunately not! The reason for my upgrade was an upgraded surveillance system that doesn't rely on the cloud, doesn't have a subscription cost, and better networking for our house. My YT channel has me doing a lot of file storage and transfers so I'm setting up a few 10G areas of the network.

Ubiquiti is really killing it there. The cameras still have a bit to go in terms of the quality versus price figure but the UX and simplicity can't be beat. Only downside really is the closed ecosystem.

My experience professionally is with high end commercial alarm & camera systems. When I was giving some recommendations to a church for a solution that had local storage, secure cloud access, and could be worked on by the staff Ubiquiti undercut the Hanwha offering significantly.

 

[smackey05]

Ubiquiti is really killing it there. The cameras still have a bit to go in terms of the quality versus price figure but the UX and simplicity can't be beat. Only downside really is the closed ecosystem.

My experience professionally is with high end commercial alarm & camera systems. When I was giving some recommendations to a church for a solution that had local storage, secure cloud access, and could be worked on by the staff Ubiquiti undercut the Hanwha offering significantly.

Yea that makes sense. Ubiquiti isn't going to win on price but there UX and overall system were a top choice for me as you said.

Plus it's for my home. I'm a little less price sensitive for something that I will enjoy using more.

 

[TJMtl]

For my retrofit of cat6 at home, I got panduit keystones and faceplates, they come in all variations, I have some 2 jack in bedrooms, and a 4 jack in my office.

they’re readily available on eBay.

 

[mikedodge]

Use pass thru connectors. It's frustrating to use the regular kind when you don't do it regularely and can end up with far more problems then successful ends.
I got whatever tool and ends were a decent price and good rating on amazon. Brand doesn't matter all that much and the ends don't need to be the same brand as the tool. Unless it's something special they're standardized. What's more important is the end and tool match the size of cabling you're using.

I was going to say you could skip the patch panel and go straight to the switch but a punch down patch panel is probably a good idea if you want to keep track of what cable is going where especially since you were already planning on using a rack.

We've had network cabling throughout our house for 20 years or so. No patch panel, depending on what their use was some cables go directly from the router or switch to the device while others have a Belden jack on the other end. With wifi not as much of it is being used anymore.

 

[dziskovs]

Thanks for the original post and all the replies here. I ran CAT6 to all the places I thought I would want it during our renovations, and have yet to terminate everything, so all the replies are super helpful. Need to get moving on it to get some devices off wifi. I'm thinking about running everything to one of the structured media enclosures, and running straight to a switch for now. I've got switches in home office, and media closet for home theater with a dedicated run to each room, but only 8-10 total runs to rooms.

 

[f121]

Probably too late, but I would rethink the location of your rack. Networking switches and routers often have tiny noisy fans, which you don’t want anywhere near somewhere your wife sleeps.

 

[niget2002]

Appreciate all the input.
I have read where they say to be sure to use the correct connectors for your application but when I shopped around I got confused as I couldn’t find the specs I was looking for. Seemed they said good for this, that and bacon fat, wide range, but nothing specific.
No one has mentioned any particular brand of connectors to use. ?
My Cat6 is 23awg solid copper.
And what type of termination.
Pass thru or not?

Thanks

I just buy whatever's on the shelf at Home Depot. I don't go through it fast enough to need more than the 20 count package at a time. I just ran out to the shop to see what I have. The RJ45 connectors I'm using are the 'Ideal' brand from Home Depot. My crimper is some cheap no-name I bought on Amazon. It gets the job done, but it's not the best. I may be looking at a better crimper.

I don't use pass through connectors, but that's just me. I learned on the other stuff and just tend to stick with that. I can see where the pass through connectors would be easier to use as you don't have to make sure all the little cables are perfect before inserting into the connector.

I do like the looks of this Klein tools one. I like that the stripper is built in to the tool.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B076MGPQZQ?tag=atomicindus08-20

Whatever you go with. Practice crimping a few short cables in the house at the table where it's easy to see what you're doing. I learned in college. One of our labs was to make 4 6" long cables, 2 regular, 2 crossover. Part of the grade was based on how close you got to the 6" mark. So if you screwed up the second crimp connector, you had to decide whether to cut it off and start over, or just take the hit on points.

 

[Shovelhead]

All good info.
If I’m figuring this right, and using a patch panel, it looks like I’ll be punchin a helluva lot more than crimpin.

Punch down rj45 females for patch panel and wall plates. I suppose just choose a reputable brand same as the crimp connectors?

I believe the only place I’ll be doing any crimp connectors will be for the WAP and cameras.

Couple of photos to show why it will be a bear to terminate some of the Cat6 to a jack and then run a patch cord to cameras and WAP on back porch.
Spray foam house.
I have Cat6 ran to front and back porch soffits. Those porches and the attached garage are closed off with the foam. So I ran short pieces of PVC as a raceway they could foam around, in case I need to replace a cable someday. Did the same for speaker wire to the back porch.

Getting up there, crawling on my belly like sneaking up on the viet cong and cutting, stripping, and making connections will **** for this old man. Plus I’d need more than a “short” patch cord.

Thanks

before and after foam

these photos are between garage and house, and have Cat6 for my main feed from TELCO, and cables for a feed to my shop , and 3 to camera locations.

 

[Shovelhead]

circle on the left is a 3/4 pvc to back porch with a cable to feed a WAP

 

[BrandonV]

Punch down rj45 females for patch panel and wall plates. I suppose just choose a reputable brand same as the crimp connectors?

Yup same deal as before. Just make sure it is rated for the cable you are using. I like Panduit and Leviton commercially. Platinum Tools has offerings as well.

 

[cgrutt]

I helped my buddy with a large security camera project and we used keystones and pass through terminals for pretty much the entire project. Needed to punch down a couple old IDFs that were reused but that was the exception not the rule. The keystones terminated with a pair of channel locks and we used klein crimpers on the rj45s. There were 165 cameras IIRC.

 

[kngelv]

Actually since you're north of the equator you have to punch down "A". "B" is for the southern hemisphere.

I hope you were being facetious because this is completely untrue. You will be fine with either as long as you have the the same termination type at both ends. 568A is better for backwards compatibility if you have old fax machines etc. which is why the government used to mandate it. Pretty much every modern industry uses 568B. I run Cat6 and fiber at work quite often and we always run 568B.

James

 

[BrandonV]

I helped my buddy with a large security camera project and we used keystones and pass through terminals for pretty much the entire project. Needed to punch down a couple old IDFs that were reused but that was the exception not the rule. The keystones terminated with a pair of channel locks and we used klein crimpers on the rj45s. There were 165 cameras IIRC.

Vivotek shop? Nice.

 

[nmk_61802]

For a home owner, don't be afraid to look at Monoprice:

https://www.monoprice.com/

As I mentioned previously, you can get tool-less keystones and avoid the punchdown if you like:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15666

 

[cgrutt]

Vivotek shop? Nice.

I'm not sure what that means my buddy built the server and was using Luxriot software for the cameras IIRC. I was running and terminating wires around the property.

 

[BrandonV]

I'm not sure what that means my buddy built the server and was using Luxriot software for the cameras IIRC. I was running and terminating wires around the property.

Just noticed the Vivotek analog to digital encoder. I use a similar one for running cameras in an elevator shaft.

 

[cgrutt]

Just noticed the Vivotek analog to digital encoder. I use a similar one for running cameras in an elevator shaft.

Yes the A2D was for the elevators... had no idea what brand it was good eye.

 

[CoogarXR]

I hope you were being facetious because this is completely untrue. You will be fine with either as long as you have the the same termination type at both ends. 568A is better for backwards compatibility if you have old fax machines etc. which is why the government used to mandate it. Pretty much every modern industry uses 568B. I run Cat6 and fiber at work quite often and we always run 568B.

James

And if you work somewhere, label your patch panel with what standard that you used.

The last place that I worked had T568B in the beginning, then a 2nd guy took over, did T568A, and then when I took over, I did T568B, lol. Luckily the guy who did A ran gray cables, and all the B's were blue. But it was pretty dumb having two standards in the same rack. But my boss wouldn't allow me time to re-punch it, since "it worked".

But I bet if the panel was labeled, Mr. "A" might have followed the existing standard.