Anyone have experience installing cat 6?

[sypher]

So I just spent the day running cat 6 in a couple different rooms and just went to test the connections and the cat 6 head (RJ-45 cat6) won't fit into any of my computers ethernet ports . Any suggestions would be welcome.

 

[operknockity]

Except for electrical properties, they should be interchangeable, but I've seen issues with some manufacturers where the top of the connector is just slightly differently shaped such that it is either very difficult to plug them in or they are so loose that they tend to sag and cause the connector pins to fail to make contact if the connector pins are on the bottom side. Maybe try connectors from a different company?

 

[sypher]

that is what im on my way to do right now

 

[lennyk]

did the tool press the pins and jacket parts properly ?
I've seen some tools which did not align properly

 

[sypher]

Yea, as far as I can tell. They almost appear to wide.
Got them @ Home depot, no other brands. Lowes, same brand. Radio Shack nothing. Best Buy, cat 5e (was actually surprised they carried any).

 

[Ryan_T]

Cat6 and Cat5/e have the same jack. The difference is in twist rate and distance. Are you sure you're not trying to plug it into the modem jack..? If you're not an absolute moron, then maybe whoever sold you the cables accidentally put the wrong connectors on. Most places now either carry Cat5e or Cat6 since those enable faster speeds - with 5e being more compatible with more devices.

 

[Johnnymg]

That sounds weird about the connectors being too wide. ???

I used some cat 6 cable in my Az house (for the longer runs). The connectors wouldn't crip on the cable (too big) so I ended up with a very short unsleeved connection at each RJ connector.

Cat 6 has a trick inner core that keeps the 4 twisted pairs separate from each other. That's why the cable is so fat!

JohnG

 

[sypher]

Cat6 and Cat5/e have the same jack. The difference is in twist rate and distance. Are you sure you're not trying to plug it into the modem jack..? If you're not an absolute moron, then maybe whoever sold you the cables accidentally put the wrong connectors on. Most places now either carry Cat5e or Cat6 since those enable faster speeds - with 5e being more compatible with more devices.

Ryan,
they do have the same connector but the don't. Just like the differnce in cat 5e to cat 6 is in the twist rate and distance (plus cat 6 has a "core" that seperates the wires), there are differences in the connectors.
Are the connectors for category 5e and category 6 different? Why are they more expensive?

Although category 6 and category 5e connectors may look alike, category 6 connectors have much better transmission performance. For example, at 100 MHz, NEXT of a category 5e connector is 43 decibels (dB), while NEXT of a category 6 connector is 54 dB. This means that a cat6 connector couples about 1/12 of the power that a cat5e connector couples from one pair to another pair. Conversely, one can say that a category 6 connector is 12 times less “noisy” compared to a category 5e connector. This vast improvement in performance was achieved with new technology, new processes, better materials and significant R&D resources, leading to higher costs for manufacturers.

None of my current devices has a modem port, just ethernet. I made my own cables and the connectors are clearly labled rj45 cat 6 connectors. Cat 6 is completely backwards compatible, so anything that works with 5e will work with 6.

 

[sypher]

That sounds weird about the connectors being too wide. ???

I know...I think Howard may have a good point. I'm trying to track down some new connectors, from a different manufacture, from around town but I'm not having any luck so far. I hope I don't have to order it off the net because of time and the possibility of having to return them.

 

[Logic 7]

The only difference between 6 cat connectors and cat 5 is the opening where you insert the wire into the connector. The end you plug into devices are exactly the same.

 

[BobW]

The outside of an RJ-45 connector is the same for cat5 and cat6. The difference is on the inside of the connector to allow for the larger gauge wire of cat6. The best connector to get are called EZRJ45 connectors. These are great because you do not have to cut all of the wires to the right length before you put the end on and then crimp it. With the EZ ends you just push the wires thru in the proper order and then the crimp tool crimps and cuts the extra wire off.

Bob W

 

[Electromen]

I install Cat 6 and 5e every week. The best jacks I've used are Allen Tel, I buy them at Graybar Electric.

 

[sypher]

did the tool press the pins and jacket parts properly ?
I've seen some tools which did not align properly

Lenny you are the winner!
I took the connector into my IT guy this morning and had him look at it. First thing he said was that I wired it wrong. I told him he was wrong. He looked at one he had done there in the office...I was right :biggrin:. He got looking at it a lot closer and a couple of the pins weren't punched in all the way. He punched them in and it slid into the ethernet port just fine. I'm glad it was that and I didn't have to go buy anything else. Another good thing is he has a line tester that he is going to let me barrow.
When I was looking at it I couldn't tell what was keeping it from going in. It appeared to me it was getting caught on the side not the top.
Thanks for all the tips and comments.

 

[lennyk]

cool, for a short run, once the cables have the same pinouts on both sides it will still work
however the proper pinout uses the pairs correctly which ensures the data travels over a pair of wires which are twisted together which helps the electrical signal

the AMP connectors are also very good, the cheap connectors often get loose on the little plastic spring tab