[kwlug-disc] Recommendations on ethernet cable tool sets, kits?

CrankyOldBugger crankyoldbugger at gmail.com
Tue Jan 30 11:32:42 EST 2018


I have a wiring question, not so much about the cabling itself but about
conduits..  I need to run a cable across the ceiling of a room in the
basement.  There's no good way to put it in the ceiling without having to
tear down drywall and drywall is way above my pay grade..  Regular conduit
would look ugly in this case.  So my wife had the idea of running a
"steampunk" conduit, one that's actually made of copper pipe (with
appropriate fittings, bends, etc.).  What I need to know is if there's any
chance a copper pipe might interfere with the signal or cause EMI or
anything?

Does anyone know?



On Tue, 30 Jan 2018 at 11:09 R. Brent Clements <rbclemen at gmail.com> wrote:

> My understanding is the blades that make contact in the keystone jack are
> designed to cut into solid-core wires.  if your cable has a braided core it
> can simply slice some of the individual copper conductors and you end up
> with an unstable connection.
>
> I made a lot of cables back in the day (i.e 10-15 years ago) when the cost
> of ready-made cables was not as cheap as they are now.  You may still need
> to remove and replace the end of a cable if you want to feed it through a
> small hole.  I know the tolerances of devices are pretty good, but I would
> be hesitant about patching together 3 or 4 segments with RJ45 connectors
> when a single line can be run end-to-end with just a bit of work.
>
> Brent
>
> On 30 January 2018 at 10:18, Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com> wrote:
>
>> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
>> Hash: SHA1
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>> Cedric shouted:
>> > 2) IF YOU ARE CRIMPING MALE RJ45 ENDS ON A CABLE, YOU ARE DOING IT
>> > WONG AND SHOULD JUST STOP.  INSTALL KEYSTONE JACKS AT ALL TIMES.
>>
>> Are there keystone jacks enclosures designed for inline cables, eg.
>> not for wall-mount boxes?  I would hate to give a client a "fixed"
>> cable with just a keystone jack hanging off the end.
>>
>> - --Bob.
>>
>>
>> On 2018-01-29 09:42 AM, Cedric Puddy wrote:
>> > Hi Folks!
>> >
>> > Copule quick points:
>> >
>> > 1) Byte Brothers (I got mine from PrimeSpec) makes a cable
>> > certifier that sits in between basic continuity testing and totally
>> > far-gone cable certifiers -- it's about $500.  It's about 95% of a
>> > classy, $6k unit.  The trade-offs are more in the line of terrible
>> > user interface and slow, fussy workflow, but that's no big deal if
>> > you aren't doing high numbers of drops.  (You do a single cable,
>> > you have to run back and forth connecting a terminal block on the
>> > far end, then pushing buttons the near end, etc.  But it definitely
>> > gives you a very good read-back on whether the cable you punched
>> > down was done right.
>> >
>> > 2) IF YOU ARE CRIMPING MALE RJ45 ENDS ON A CABLE, YOU ARE DOING IT
>> > WONG AND SHOULD JUST STOP.  INSTALL KEYSTONE JACKS AT ALL TIMES.
>> > OK, so that's a bit strong, but seriously, I deal with lots of
>> > cables, and I haven't crimped a male RJ45 end on a cable since
>> > about 2003.   I gave away my RJ45 crimp tools, don't carry one, and
>> > neither do my techs.  The reason:  you cannot manually make a patch
>> > cable to nearly the same spec as machines, and it is FAR more
>> > reliable to attach a keystone jack; moreover the manufactured
>> > cables are cheap and plentiful.
>> >
>> > Keystone jacks are a lot more forgiving, faster, and easy to
>> > inspect/fix if there's a problem.  And a shout out to Primespec --
>> > I buy all this kind of stuff there; cabling is  only cost effective
>> > if you have a proper vendor who serves the professional cabling
>> > market.  Home Despot marks this stuff up "a hair too much", in my
>> > experience.
>> >
>> > We usually sub-contract cabling, but sometimes "internal resources"
>> > have to chip in.  When that happens, we usually do continuity
>> > testing when we install a keystone jack, and only occasionally use
>> > the Byte Brothers certifier.  For continuity, my absolutely
>> > favourite tool is the Ideal LinkMaster Pro, with a bunch of
>> > remotes.  The awesome thing about this unit is that if you plug it
>> > into a cable with a remote on the end, it will instantly power on,
>> > test the cable, tell you if it's good within 2 seconds, and then go
>> > back to sleep when you unplug the cable.  I've used my for years
>> > and changed the battery once, and it's just so damn fast.  It does
>> > a variety of things, but the "UX experience" can't be beat.  No
>> > idea who sells them these days, or how much.
>> >
>> https://www.google.ca/search?q=ideal+supply+cable+tester&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI99KDsv3YAhVs_IMKHb7qA3AQ_AUICygC&biw=1270&bih=2043#imgrc=kKnl2wz6FDhssM
>> >
>> >
>> :
>> >
>> > Anyhoo, my 0.02!  Make it a great one!
>> >
>> > -Cedric
>> >
>> >
>> > On 29 January 2018 at 09:04, nafdef <nafdef at gmail.com> wrote:
>> >
>> >> Thanks Bob. -FF
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> --------------------------------------------------------------
>> >> Roger Federer Fanatic Extraordinaire :-)
>> >>
>> >> _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc
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>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________ kwlug-disc mailing
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>> >
>>
>> - --
>> Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>          Phone: +1-519-635-9413
>> SOBAC Microcomputer Services             http://sobac.com/sobac/
>> Software   ---   Office & Business Automation   ---   Consulting
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