RJ45 Ethernet connection issues

[wittaj]

+1 above LOL.

Yeah, Amazon reviews are comical and mostly useless LOL. If we went by Amazon reviews, we would all have Reolinks LOL.

I love this one from the 5442-Z4E, which is a workhorse that many here have and recommend.

He starts it by making himself sound like an expert, but if the cameras were QR code consumer Ring and Arlo, then it is not the same LOL.

He is totally wrong in his entire write-up. I have several of these cameras and set everyone of them up on a computer that has ZERO internet access.

I never needed an app to set this up either as he says it needs.

 

[tigerwillow1]

Thanks but did you review the comments on theses? There worst than what I purchased!

This really surprises me. I'm on my 2nd batch of 100 of these (the Monoprice insert connectors) and prefer them to pass-through connectors. The only caveat would be if they have had a redesign or manufacturer change since I bought the last batch a year or two ago.

 

[Holbs]

I have hired 4 new techs for my low voltage business. I had to go through this very topic (along with punching wire down on jacks).
Forementioned miniature stainless steel screwdriver is a MUST.
1.) stainless steel is mandatory for this. Not graphite or oxidized. You need a smooth sliippery small cylinderical object. It has to be around a specific size cylinder too (T5 sized). Any larger, makes it harder to untwist. These screwdrivers are what I would look for:


Of course, we deal with warehouse paging and PLC's at times so we use these miniature screwdrivers (flat and phillip head) all the time.

2.) As @Smilingreen posted pictures, I have my guys fan out all 4 pairs: east, west, north, and south pointing. Slide 1 of the pairs between thumb and screwdriver to untwist. Do this for each individual pair. Pain in butt? Yep... so keep the pairs very short. 1" range. NOT 4". You will see some color pairs are more twisted than other colored pairs. That is be network transmission design. Usually, the green pair is twisted more so than others. I have to manually start untwisting the green pair once or twice around, and then use screwdriver to finish it off. This technique takes practice as you will surely apply TOO much pressure between thumb and screwdriver to scrape off the color cladding material to see bare copper. That is bad, btw.
3.) Once you have all 4 pairs fanned out (north, south, east, west), it is now very easy to put then the correct color code order. Once they are in order, you do the same thumb & screwdriver slide for all 8 wires. May even have to do this twice . Now you should have 8 straight as can be wires ready for RJ45 insertion.

 

[Flintstone61]

The bad reviews are all the people who cannot terminate cat5/6 and have no clue about AWG sizing, and matching AWG wires and connectors.

 

[TonyR]

Don’t be so sensitive reviews are what they are not a reflection on you whatsoever!

You're kidding me, right?

I'm not being sensitive, YOU are being unreasonable..think about it:
You ask for an opinion, I give a QUALIFIED opinion based on lengthy, hands-on experience with the recommended connector and you question it because you read some poor reviews about it on amazon? What do you think that says how you regard my recommendation? Or my level of expertise?

Seriously, I really do not care what you do. You've had several great suggestions from other experienced members, many with suitable suggestions so please, just pick one and move on.

I know I have.

 

[Sybertiger]

I typically cut off about 3" of the outer insulation, untwist the wires then pull them between my thumbnail and index finger 2 or 3 times to get the curly out of them, then I put them in order per the diagram on the pass-though crimper as tightly as I can, then about somewhere in the middle of that 3" I can usually find a place when they are all nice and tight in order then chop off about 1.5", then carefully slide all the wires in order slightly pressing against the upper inside of the connector to keep them in order until they come in contact with the holes, then I usually take some pliers to the ends after they pass through the connector to pull the wire through as much as possible before putting into the crimper to crimp and chop off the excess.

When you use Cat5e versus Cat6 Plenum vs Cat6 Direct Burial wire you definitely will see some differences in difficulty. You just have to be patient sometimes and just do it over if they get out of order when trying to slide them in. The more you want them to go in quickly the more difficult it can be.

 

[Dave88LX]

I think you've read enough posts on the tools and steps to terminate the cables. Sounds like you just need to try a different connector — don't give up that easily!

 

[tigerwillow1]

When you use Cat5e versus Cat6 Plenum vs Cat6 Direct Burial wire you definitely will see some differences in difficulty.

You reminded me that the gel filled cat 6 direct burial was a bit of a messy challenge.

 

[looney2ns]

I really really enjoy when somebody comes here asking for advice and then they want to argue with you about it or question it to death. No I'm just kidding / sarcasm. I'm done.

 

[Teeling611]

I really really enjoy when somebody comes here asking for advice and then they want to argue with you about it or question it to death. No I'm just kidding / sarcasm. I'm done.

Ok then need some advice. I need to make some short Ethernet cables. I think they’re called patch cables. I’ve read here about solid copper vs stranded copper cables. I have a big roll of solid copper 23 gauge copper but it’s not very flexible at all. I want to make about 3 foot cables and it would be nice if there were a bit flexible. Also want to make them myself. Is there such a thing Out there?

 

[Smilingreen]

Ok then need some advice. I need to make some short Ethernet cables. I think they’re called patch cables. I’ve read here about solid copper vs stranded copper cables. I have a big roll of solid copper 23 gauge copper but it’s not very flexible at all. I want to make about 3 foot cables and it would be nice if there were a bit flexible. Also want to make them myself. Is there such a thing Out there?

Sure, you can buy premade 3' cat6 cables for about $6.70 each. You can also buy a spool of stranded cat6 cable, and you can buy the rj-45 ends and you can buy a crimper.

 

[Teeling611]

Sure, you can buy premade 3' cat6 cables for about $6.70 each. You can also buy a spool of stranded cat6 cable, and you can buy the rj-45 ends and you can buy a crimper.

Have the ends and crimper. So it’s ok to use stranded copper wire? Might be move a bit. Is it going to be much more flexible than solid Or should I just stick to what I have.

Wow they are cheap either way!

 

[jarrow]

Stranded is mostly used in patch cables and solid is used for permanent installations. Stranded allows for more bends and is indeed more flexible but if you barely move the cable I'm sure solid will do fine.

 

[Dave88LX]

For the low price of a stranded patch cable, and the annoyance factor in putting connectors on stranded cable (prior to the EZ-RJ), I find it's worthwhile to me to just buy the short patch cables pre-made from Monoprice.

Cables - HDMI Cable, Home Theater Accessories, HDMI Products, Cables, Adapters, Video/Audio Switch, Networking, USB, Firewire, Printer Toner, and more!

Monoprice, Inc. (DBA. MonoPrice.com) specializes in the wholesale distribution of world class cable assemblies for home theater, PC, and high technology industries. MonoPrice.com offers a wide range of products from standard PC products, network cables, and HDMI cables to custom cable assemblies...

www.monoprice.com

There's a few different options on there for cable/boot type.

 

[Mike A.]

For the low price of a stranded patch cable, and the annoyance factor in putting connectors on stranded cable (prior to the EZ-RJ), I find it's worthwhile to me to just buy the short patch cables...

^ This. Not worth the bother unless maybe you need something special where you can't get the connector through.

 

[CanCuba]

How to tell the difference? Can’t find anything on the connector. Just says cat6 on packaging not the wire gauge. It’s almost an impossible task getting the wires thru. I tried just one wire and that just as bad. When I did get them thru I had to use a pair of pliers to grab all the wire and pull like hell to get them back to the sheathing. All this was done sitting on my couch I can’t imagine doing this on a ladder outside.

To straighten the wires I used a jewelry tool my wife uses to straighten wire. Works great but doesn’t help with the pass-thru connectors. After all your responses I’m beginning to think it’s the wrong size cat6 connectors for 23 gauge wire

Many thanks for all your help!

I was thinking about this the other day and I have an idea.

Instead of "pulling" the cable from the NVR/switch, "push" it instead! That is to say, sit on your couch and make a connection on a long cable. Get up on your ladder and feed the cable towards the NVR/switch. It will be much easier to terminate inside at the NVR/switch. You'll need a second person as one person will need to be on the ladder to make sure the cable doesn't twist or bind as it's being fed inside. Then bring the cable to the NVR/switch and terminate.

I'm not a fan of ladders and this sounds much easier.

 

[Teeling611]

I was thinking about this the other day and I have an idea.

Instead of "pulling" the cable from the NVR/switch, "push" it instead! That is to say, sit on your couch and make a connection on a long cable. Get up on your ladder and feed the cable towards the NVR/switch. It will be much easier to terminate inside at the NVR/switch. You'll need a second person as one person will need to be on the ladder to make sure the cable doesn't twist or bind as it's being fed inside. Then bring the cable to the NVR/switch and terminate.

I'm not a fan of ladders and this sounds much easier.

I went out and purchased these very thin and flexible fiberglass poles, 3 foot sections, that screw together and used these to pull the wires. Harbor Freight $9.00. They worked great and easy to find when pushed into the attic areas. For some very tight bends you still need a tape type puller. I got all the wiring done finally. Lots of ladder work unfortunately. Not easy with one person though. Now I just need to fish some hdmi cables thru the walls.

 

[Dave88LX]

Those poles are helpful!

Note for anyone pulling cable or a fishtape/pole etc. -- run a pull-string in there so you have something to use next time you run a cable if you need to.

If you use that pull-string, pull in a NEW string along with your new cable so it's always there.

 

[Teeling611]

Those poles are helpful!

Note for anyone pulling cable or a fishtape/pole etc. -- run a pull-string in there so you have something to use next time you run a cable if you need to.

If you use that pull-string, pull in a NEW string along with your new cable so it's always there.

Dam that’s a great idea would never have though of that!

 

[The Automation Guy]

I finally purchased a "pass through" connector crimper and connectors in the last month or two. (Which is kind of crazy considering how much wire I've pulled in my house. But I've gotten away with using punch down connectors until now). While even my initial tries worked and tested well, I really struggled pushing the wires through the connectors on the first two attempts. Finally on the third, I found my stride and was able to find a technique that worked well. I probably struggled for 10-15 minutes each on the first two and now I'm successful on the first "push" attempt. It takes longer to get the wires in the correct order than it does to push the wires through and crimp the connector now.

I will say that it is very important to get all of the kinks out of the individual wires. I found that curling the wire over my finger and running my finger to the end of the wire (like you would create a curl on a gift box ribbon) takes the kinks out (effectively reproducing the way TigerWillow1 does it - just using my finger instead of a tool). Do this on each "side" of the wire (so four times on each wire) and you'll get all the kinks out. That makes it MUCH easier to push the wires through the connector. If there is even a small kink in the wire, the won't push through because the space tolerances are so tight. I also get about 3" inches of wire ready to push through. I realize this is excessive (and I'll probably use shorter and shorter lengths), but I found that I need about 1.5" of wire to adequately hold the wires in the correct order and then the connector is about 1/2" long, so that's 2" of wire that is needed at a min before pushing any through the connector. Obviously you need to push all of the excess wire through the connector, but as soon as your get all 8 wires through, you can grab the wires with plyers to pull the rest through the connector. All of the excess is going to get cut off anyway, so there is no need to be concerned about marring the wire with the plyers, etc.