Best way to join 2 Cat6 cables

looney2ns

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Last month i found a few of these connections... no problem since they were installed about 6 years ago... gigabit network full speed, never any problem

and this was a paid job by a electrician for around 80€ / hour
seems that he run out of these screw (?) terminals after the first LOL

View attachment 108150
At least he didn't use Scotch tape. :winktongue:
 

Kevin_Essiambre

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I use these...

I flood them with dielectric grease.

They also use split glands so they can be used on cables that are pre- terminated. I buy them wholesale but here's a link for the retail site:

CN-C6-FFSB-IP68_alt.jpg
 

TonyR

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+1^^.
I've used similar with great results.
Not sure if a requirement, but the OP asked in post #3 "How well does this fit in a standard outdoor junction box? "
 

Kevin_Essiambre

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+1^^.
I've used similar with great results.
Not sure if a requirement, but the OP asked in post #3 "How well does this fit in a standard outdoor junction box? "
Mine won't. Although if they're inside a junction box you can get away without using anything but the coupler portion.

Don't use an indoor coupler outdoors, they corrode and break down. I had to replace an indoor one in a junction box with an outdoor one (I just removed the junction box)... not my facility, I was just there to make the camera work... i told them next time it fails, we're digging a trench and dropping I PVC... funny how cheap these places are even tho they grow green stuff (if you catch my drift).20210908_131105.jpg
 

TonyR

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Mine won't. Although if they're inside a junction box you can get away without using anything but the coupler portion.

Don't use an indoor coupler outdoors, they corrode and break down. I had to replace an indoor one in a junction box with an outdoor one (I just removed the junction box)... not my facility, I was just there to make the camera work... i told them next time it fails, we're digging a trench and dropping I PVC... funny how cheap these places are even tho they grow green stuff (if you catch my drift).
I hear ya.
I was under the gun once in CA to make an immediate repair while the weatherproof one like you linked was on a rush order. Meanwhile, I took an indoor coupler, dabbed dielectric grease on both the male RJ-45's and plugged them in, tested OK, then tightly wrapped 2 layers of self-vulcanizing rubber tape the full length plus about 3 inches of overlap onto the CAT-5, then 2 VERY tight layers of 3M 33+ to speed the curing. The splice looked like a python that had swallowed a goat or something! :lol:

The weatherproof coupler arrived in a few days, I was VERY busy putting out fires so I let it go....3 or 4 months later I cut it open and replaced it. It looked really clean inside and to this day I wish I had waited to see how long it would have lasted. Anyway, the waterproof one was in place for 4 years with no issues when I retired.
 

Teken

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Mine won't. Although if they're inside a junction box you can get away without using anything but the coupler portion.

Don't use an indoor coupler outdoors, they corrode and break down. I had to replace an indoor one in a junction box with an outdoor one (I just removed the junction box)... not my facility, I was just there to make the camera work... i told them next time it fails, we're digging a trench and dropping I PVC... funny how cheap these places are even tho they grow green stuff (if you catch my drift).View attachment 108272
I burst out laughing as that picture is exactly the same thing found at another commercial site?!? The conduit was like yours shooting straight up without a J bend.

They used some dollar store electrical tape with blue painters tape?? All of this was done by their so called qualified I.T. Department!

A new manager called us and asked for a quote to R&R the entire security network and camera system. He said the internal I.T. staff would have no hand in the installations for deployment.

I asked him how long the system was up and running. He said it was powered up exactly 2 seconds and everything went bang?!?

I laughed and said that’s not possible and expected he was just exaggerating!

Once the sky lift arrived I told the new manager to come up with me as we documented the scope of issues at hand. As our quote covered the entire rewiring of the system from end to end.

Upon getting up to the first camera I heard a popping noise. I immediately told the manager to stay inside the sky lift cage and not move. I immediately radio to my other team members to kill the entire system and lock out the breakers supplying power to that branch circuit.

I verified the wall and camera was completely unenergized. When I came closer I saw what appeared to be some black caulk / glue??

I slowly removed the camera and the smell and damage was incredible. Long story short the so called I.T. Guy squirted in Nyogel conductive grease inside of all the RJ45 connectors!!!

Instead of using dielectric grease!!!

Of course this made perfect sense of how something could run for only 2 seconds and go poof!

Six Cisco 48 port POE switches, 288 Axis cameras and wiring toast. Along with several 3kVa UPS’s for the entire system.
 

Kevin_Essiambre

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I burst out laughing as that picture is exactly the same thing found at another commercial site?!? The conduit was like yours shooting straight up without a J bend.

They used some dollar store electrical tape with blue painters tape?? All of this was done by their so called qualified I.T. Department!

A new manager called us and asked for a quote to R&R the entire security network and camera system. He said the internal I.T. staff would have no hand in the installations for deployment.

I asked him how long the system was up and running. He said it was powered up exactly 2 seconds and everything went bang?!?

I laughed and said that’s not possible and expected he was just exaggerating!

Once the sky lift arrived I told the new manager to come up with me as we documented the scope of issues at hand. As our quote covered the entire rewiring of the system from end to end.

Upon getting up to the first camera I heard a popping noise. I immediately told the manager to stay inside the sky lift cage and not move. I immediately radio to my other team members to kill the entire system and lock out the breakers supplying power to that branch circuit.

I verified the wall and camera was completely unenergized. When I came closer I saw what appeared to be some black caulk / glue??

I slowly removed the camera and the smell and damage was incredible. Long story short the so called I.T. Guy squirted in Nyogel conductive grease inside of all the RJ45 connectors!!!

Instead of using dielectric grease!!!

Of course this made perfect sense of how something could run for only 2 seconds and go poof!

Six Cisco 48 port POE switches, 288 Axis cameras and wiring toast. Along with several 3kVa UPS’s for the entire system.
Man, it sounds like the guy that did that started at your facility, learned from his mistakes with the grease, and moved to this one!

The former IT guy had to have all top of the line stuff (Axis cameras, fluke equipment, etc) but cheaped out on the actual install and didn't even know how to properly terminate a PASSTHRU connector.

Best part is how the cameras were mounted... no boom lift on site for me to service the cameras, after harvest apparently I'm going to be checking everything... I got creative with getting up there...

Oh and Hikvision would have been more than adequate for this facility...20211005_111615.jpg20211005_115527.jpg
 

Robert hocevar

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If its indoors you can use a coupler. if outdoor your best bet is to solder, deox then heat shrink, and put it in a weather proof j box. I usually pull too much wire so splicing usually isnt a issue for me. but one of my employees always seems to pull the cable and ends up 1 ft short! make sure you buy a good quality coupler. I have some bought on amazon that are garbage!
 

TonyR

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Best part is how the cameras were mounted... no boom lift on site for me to service the cameras, after harvest apparently I'm going to be checking everything... I got creative with getting up there...
Wow...in the U.S., OSHA or CAL-OHSA would be fit to be tied if they had come across that! Apparently you survived and I'm glad.

BTW, are those big, black conductors of some kind snaked along that fence?
 

Kevin_Essiambre

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Wow...in the U.S., OSHA or CAL-OHSA would be fit to be tied if they had come across that! Apparently you survived and I'm glad.

BTW, are those big, black conductors of some kind snaked along that fence?
Those big black things you see are poly pipe (AKA water pipe) that the former IT guy used for running all the network cables...

Suprise Suprise some of the runs don't work and had to have radios installed to make the connection work...

I told them next time something fails, dig a trench around the entire fence line so I can drop in conduit and do it my way...
 

Teken

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Those big black things you see are poly pipe (AKA water pipe) that the former IT guy used for running all the network cables...

Suprise Suprise some of the runs don't work and had to have radios installed to make the connection work...

I told them next time something fails, dig a trench around the entire fence line so I can drop in conduit and do it my way...
I had to show your reply to another installer and he just spit out his coffee! I was thinking you know 2021 hadn’t shown me or others very many NEW epic fails this year.

I thought the chicken wire job we saw was one of the best in terms of fail. But that pipe all strung along that fence line is easily a top contender!
 

eeeeesh

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I recently ran some cat6 basically all the way around my rear fence line to place a camera in a tree in my front yard, using two different runs.
  1. Run #1 was an existing run from my garage to the backyard where I have a small POE switch for a couple of cams back there. That run is about 90'
  2. Run #2 was the extension from the POE switch in the backyard, around the fence line to where I originally was going to place the camera in the front yard. It is about 230', but then once I ran the cable I decided to use a different location so I needed to add about another 40' section :(
So I was interested in how to connect the 230' run with the additional 40'. I bought a small waterproof junction box and was just going to use a couple of 'cheapo couplers' but then I decided to buy some more expensive couplers and I wanted to see how they worked out. I have used the punch down type junction boxes in the past, but I didn't think they were worth the time and effort

I did some testing using a 11 year old gaming laptop I had that still worked. (The reason why I used this laptop was because it has a physical ethernet port). I set up an iPerf server on my Synology NAS and did some testing between the laptop and the NAS.

For a reference, I first tested the throughput in my garage using both the send and receive command. Average results were 595 Mbits/sec send and 596 Mbits/sec receive. It should be noted that on a modern computer I use in the garage I get around 920 Mbits/sec both ways, so the lower results from the laptop are basically because it's 11 years old

I then connected the laptop at the 90' mark and repeated the test. Really no change - Average results were 597 Mbits/sec send and 596 Mbits/sec receive

Next I tested with the laptop connected after the 230' run, so at this point I had over 300' of cable between the laptop and the NAS inside my house. Results dropped a little bit - Average results were 568 Mbits/sec send and 582 Mbits/sec receive

Lastly I tested with the two different connectors I had. I added about another 40' of cable using the connectors. So about 340' of cable from the laptop to the NAS in total.
cheapo connector - Average results were 588 Mbits/sec send and 586 Mbits/sec receive
fancy connector - Average results were 587 Mbits/sec send and 587 Mbits/sec receive

I was pretty pleased with the minimal drop (595ish compared to 587ish) over 340' of Cat6 with a couple of inexpensive, inline connectors. I ended up using the cheapo couplers because they fit nicely in the junction box.

$10 waterproof junction box
TRI-008.jpg

$2 per piece 'fancy' couplers
TRI-009.jpg

$1 per piece 'cheapo' couplers that I bought back in 2014

TRI-011.jpg

I think next time I will try these connectors from Amazon, similar to what Kevin uses

TRI-012.jpg
 
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Alaska Country

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For a reference, I first tested the throughput in my garage using both the send and receive command. Average results were 595 Mbits/sec send and 596 Mbits/sec receive. It should be noted that on a modern computer I use in the garage I get around 920 Mbits/sec both ways, so the lower results from the laptop are basically because it's 11 years old
Appreciate your mention of a way to test CAT-5e/CAT-6 cables. Looked up iPerf but did not find mention of using the system software to test from an NVR to an IP camera. Or from a Window's desktop through the NVR to the IP camera. Can this be done?

Always interested in seeing how well new cables are performing. Buying a Fluke Network Qualification tester would be ideal, but a bit on the high priced side for the occasional installer.
 

Teken

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Appreciate your mention of a way to test CAT-5e/CAT-6 cables. Looked up iPerf but did not find mention of using the system software to test from an NVR to an IP camera. Or from a Window's desktop through the NVR to the IP camera. Can this be done?

Always interested in seeing how well new cables are performing. Buying a Fluke Network Qualification tester would be ideal, but a bit on the high priced side for the occasional installer.
Doesn’t matter what tool(s) you use so long as you understand it’s only a small part of the bigger picture. The only thing that does matters at the end of the day is seeing and hearing audio / video once connected to the line.

iPerf and similar software tests will not tell you anything that has to do with voltage drop. Connecting two computers places almost no load and is simply data transferring (simple data packets).

A continuous ping on the line will tell you even more in the field.

As it relates to raw data this is why you can run 1000 feet for data only. You can’t run POE at the same distance which is per spec 328 feet without some kind of active / passive injector (booster) in line.

All of the above also hinges upon following current industry standards of using 23 AWG solid copper wire. In 2021 lazy and cheap people continue to install CAT5e / CCA cable from 24~30+ AWG that is NOT in wall rated and wonder later why things burn up!

iPerf will also not tell you RFI / EMI is an issue because people are once again too lazy and incompetent to understand low voltage wiring must not run in parallel to high voltage lines or those who emit the same type of interference.

That’s why shielded Ethernet cable was created to reduce the impact of RFI / EMI. iPerf will not tell you there’s a ground loop issue especially if intermittent or present. Because once again people are too lazy to ask questions and understand the importance of proper component grounding to a single point Earth ground.

At the end of the day if you have a accurate & reliable True RMS multi meter completing AVR test on the line will affirm the most important essentials needed to run any security camera.
 
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