# Data is a PITA



## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

RJ45 connections in particular are a real PITA. 

I have a friend who can do data connections in his sleep. He’s Asian, though, so he has the right genes. For the rest of us, how do you make those connections without copious amounts of profanity and throwing things at the wall?


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## Signal1 (Feb 10, 2016)

> He’s Asian


I'm offended.:clover:


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## MikeFL (Apr 16, 2016)

Get the new pass through connectors. They rock!


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

Avoid terminating in plugs! Terminate in jacks. Jacks are still fiddly little things but far superior to plugs. 



When you must terminate in plugs, use the plugs that let you push the wire out through the front of the jack where you can verify your pinout is correct before you crimp.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

MikeFL said:


> Get the new pass through connectors. They rock!


Don't make up male plugs at all.

All the building wiring should be terminated into female jacks, whether it be wall plates or patch panels. Then buy patch cables, which are super cheap.


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

splatz said:


> Avoid terminating in plugs! Terminate in jacks. Jacks are still fiddly little things but far superior to plugs.
> 
> 
> 
> When you must terminate in plugs, use the plugs that let you push the wire out through the front of the jack where you can verify your pinout is correct before you crimp.


can you post a link, splatz?


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

99cents said:


> can you post a link, splatz?


 Sure. 

The Ideal is super nice. 


https://www.idealindustries.ca/products/feed-thru-connector-installation-kit.html


But remember, plugs only when forced, stick to jacks.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

99cents said:


> can you post a link, splatz?


In what situation are you installing data wiring in which you would want a male plug at the end of it?


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

HackWork said:


> In what situation are you installing data wiring in which you would want a male plug at the end of it?



It comes up most often with cameras, a lot of them have a pigtail with a jack and a little gland nut that goes over your plug to make a water tight install.


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## Navyguy (Mar 15, 2010)

Remember those ideal jack are different for Cat5e and Cat6.
@HackWork we have to do it from time-to-time; mostly for POS machines, sometime we need them for cameras or other POE devices that are mounted on a box of some sort or there is not opportunity to mount a box.

The real answer is as suggested is to use a jack where possible; prefereably in some sort of rack too.

Cheers
John


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

Navyguy said:


> Remember those ideal jack are different for Cat5e and Cat6.
> @HackWork we have to do it from time-to-time; mostly for POS machines, sometime we need them for cameras or other POE devices that are mounted on a box of some sort or there is not opportunity to mount a box.
> 
> The real answer is as suggested is to use a jack where possible; prefereably in some sort of rack too.
> ...


Gotcha. I didn't think of that. 

The reason I asked is because I see a lot of people run a cable somewhere and then put a male plug on the end. Such as into a closet where a router is located. 

IMO, it is best to use a small patch panel or even just a plastic box with a cover plate with rj45 female jacks. Mount it permanently, then use a patch cable to run to the device.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

I use a jack or patch panel where feasible, but for cameras and stuff I crimp an end on it. After a few hundred you get the hang of it. I strip back a good 4" of sheath to have plenty of room to get the wires lined up in the correct order, then snip them to length with ***** before I crimp a standard end on.


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## Kevin (Feb 14, 2017)

I can do both the punch down connections and the male crimp on ends without issues. 

I'm on a big job currently, and the wireless access points, intercoms, and cameras all have a male RJ45 connector on them. Everything else goes to a patch panel and uses patch cables to connect.

In fact I've gotten good at using the non EZ-rj45 connectors (I accidentally bought them) that I'll use them to save money of I have the time. The EZ-rj45 connectors are faster though, strip, straighten, arrange and crimp. No pesky task of ensuring the proper length before inserting.

Sent from my Samsung using Tapatalk


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## Helmut (May 7, 2014)

screw patch panels and punch downs. I put male plugs on both ends. The IT room end plugs directly into the server switch, eliminating punch downs on a server rack, and the need for jumpers.

The other ends, especially on cubes, come out the bottom of the cube, and directly into the phone or the puter.

I only use Ideal rg-45 jacks, from Home Depot. They have a concave slot which makes the wire go into the jack easier.


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

buy or steal from the wife the sharpest pair of scissors you can find. 

un-twist then straighten the wires (pull them between thumb and side of finger). Arrange them in order then pull on them and wiggle them so they lay flat. cut them to length then jam on the end and crimp. Ive done probably 20 today and touch wood they all tested good on the meter.


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## Going_Commando (Oct 1, 2011)

gpop said:


> buy or steal from the wife the sharpest pair of scissors you can find.
> 
> un-twist then straighten the wires (pull them between thumb and side of finger). Arrange them in order then pull on them and wiggle them so they lay flat. cut them to length then jam on the end and crimp. Ive done probably 20 today and touch wood they all tested good on the meter.


That's how I do it.


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## Southeast Power (Jan 18, 2009)

99cents said:


> RJ45 connections in particular are a real PITA.
> 
> I have a friend who can do data connections in his sleep. He’s Asian, though, so he has the right genes. For the rest of us, how do you make those connections without copious amounts of profanity and throwing things at the wall?


Really?? :chinese::wallbash:


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

HackWork said:


> In what situation are you installing data wiring in which you would want a male plug at the end of it?


The other scenario is lighting room controllers where the switches and sensors have a female rj45 jack on them. 

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk


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## 99cents (Aug 20, 2012)

I like the pull through ones.


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## HackWork (Oct 2, 2009)

B-Nabs said:


> The other scenario is lighting room controllers where the switches and sensors have a female rj45 jack on them.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk


Even then, I have still punched down into a patch panel or small set of jacks, and then used patch cables.


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## TGGT (Oct 28, 2012)

99cents said:


> RJ45 connections in particular are a real PITA.
> 
> 
> 
> I have a friend who can do data connections in his sleep. He’s Asian, though, so he has the right genes. For the rest of us, how do you make those connections without copious amounts of profanity and throwing things at the wall?


I'm white and can punch down just fine.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

B-Nabs said:


> The other scenario is lighting room controllers where the switches and sensors have a female rj45 jack on them.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk





HackWork said:


> Even then, I have still punched down into a patch panel or small set of jacks, and then used patch cables.



I definitely don't put a plug on every cable intended for equipment with a female network port; almost everything has a female network port. 



The only reason to do it is if there's no good place for a jack and patch cord. 



Lighting control panels with ethernet connections on the controller inside - I put a jack outside and run a patch cord to the controller inside. This way if someone (like me) is servicing the network there's no issue opening the panel, you can do what you need to do from that jack. If you need to test the controller, you can plug that patch cord directly into your laptop. No need to shut the lights in the middle of the day. 



For time clocks, putting the jack on the wall is a bad idea, people like to tamper with time clocks. Many brands there's room inside the time clock housing for a jack and 1' patch cord, if not, terminate with a plug. Similar for cameras.


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## B-Nabs (Jun 4, 2014)

HackWork said:


> Even then, I have still punched down into a patch panel or small set of jacks, and then used patch cables.





splatz said:


> I definitely don't put a plug on every cable intended for equipment with a female network port; almost everything has a female network port.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I'm not talking about a lighting panel, I'm talking about distributed room controllers, where there's a controller in the ceiling of each room, and the sensors and switches are daisy chained with Cat5 to that controller, as well as the controllers being daisy chained with one another. I could see putting jacks at the room controller end, but the sensors and switches it's easier to terminate male plugs at the device. 

Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk


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## splatz (May 23, 2015)

B-Nabs said:


> I'm not talking about a lighting panel, I'm talking about distributed room controllers, where there's a controller in the ceiling of each room, and the sensors and switches are daisy chained with Cat5 to that controller, as well as the controllers being daisy chained with one another. I could see putting jacks at the room controller end, but the sensors and switches it's easier to terminate male plugs at the device.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920W8 using Tapatalk


That makes sense to me. If it's what I'm thinking those are not ethernet devices, those are RS-485 and totally different rules apply.


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## 3DDesign (Oct 25, 2014)

I trained my 32 yr old son to install the male jacks about seven years ago.
He gets it right every time. Needless to say, his eyes are better than mine.


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## gpop (May 14, 2018)

3DDesign said:


> I trained my 32 yr old son to install the male jacks about seven years ago.
> He gets it right every time. Needless to say, his eyes are better than mine.


Taught my kids when they were young. Told them i was to tight to buy all the cables for there game systems so they either made there own or 
went with out. 

They enjoyed it and would fight over who got to make a cable then bet on the results of the tester. It probably cost me hundreds of wasted ends but it kept them amused.


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## sparkiez (Aug 1, 2015)

Use flush cutters. The steps are pretty simple.


1. Strip back a few inches of wire.
2. Untwist all pairs
3. Get your wires lined up in the color order (Typically OW-O-GW-B-BW-G-BrW-B)
4. This is the trick. Match your thumb up with the spot where the sheath has been trimmed back. Press it against your forefinger and let it hold these wires in place. You will trim right at the edge of your thumb. This keeps the wires straight, gives you a spot to cut that isn't too long so that the RJ-45 can't get a good crimp on the cable jacket.
5. Trim the cable with FLUSH CUTTERS or LINESMEN. Diagonal cutters give you just that and make it hard to get your wires in the hole.
6. Check, check and check again.
7. Insert into crimpers, and give it a good solid push prior to crimping.



Bonus: The wire is cheap. Leave yourself plenty of slack so it isn't an issue to rework. The exception here being on large data racks.


That is all just for male connectors, though, and not jacks. I'm a fan of the tool-less jacks myself.


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