How To: Terminate Cat6/6A Shielded Direct Burial Ethernet Cable
Vložit
- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- In this week’s video we revisit an old subject: terminating shielded Ethernet cable with shielded RJ45 connectors. Our Technical Manager, Don Schultz, revisits this process and goes through it step-by step, shares some updated best practices, and leaves you feeling confident in trying it yourself!
If you found this video helpful let us know in the comments and subscribe for more!
Video Time Codes:
[0:00-0:24] - Intro
[0:25-0:58] - Overview
[0:59-3:16] - Required Tools & Hardware
[3:17-4:31] - Shielded vs Unshielded RJ45 Connectors
[4:32-5:35] - Cutting & Stripping Ethernet Cable
[5:36-6:37] - Securing Drain Wire & Finalizing Cable Prep
[6:38-8:34] - Straightening Your Conductors
[8:35-9:39] - Putting Conductors Into Correct Sequence
[9:40-12:07] - Putting RJ45 Connector Onto Ethernet Cable
[12:08-13:14] - Termination
[13:15-13:36] - Outro
trueCABLE Products Featured in This Video:
Cat6A Pass Through RJ45 Connector Unshielded: www.truecable.com/products/ca...
Cat6A Pass Through RJ45 Connector Shielded: www.truecable.com/products/ca...
Flush Cutters: www.truecable.com/products/fl...
Cable Stripping & Cutting Tool: www.truecable.com/products/wi...
trueCRIMP All-In-One Crimp & Termination Tool: www.truecable.com/products/al...
Copper Fabric Strips: www.truecable.com/products/co...
trueGROUND External Ground Crimp Tool: www.truecable.com/products/tr...
Cat6 Direct Burial Shielded: www.truecable.com/products/ca...
Cat6A Direct Burial Shielded: www.truecable.com/products/ca...
All trueCABLE Products: www.truecable.com/collections...
Check out trueCABLE on Social Media:
Instagram: / truecableinc
Facebook: / truecableinc
TikTok: / truecableinc
LinkedIn: / truecable
Learn more in our Cable Academy!
www.truecable.com/blogs/cable...
Trouble finding the right Ethernet cable for your project? Check out our Ethernet Cable Finder:
www.truecable.com/pages/guide...
Need help finding the right connector for your Ethernet cable? Check out our Connector Finder:
www.truecable.com/pages/conne...
Check Out Our Podcast “The Low-Voltage Lowdown” on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/show/3zZnePl...
THANK YOU for actually explaining and outlining the specific connectors and how to deal with the thicker CAT6 outdoor/direct burial cables; I thought I was going mad with how I could never seem to make the jacket fit into the regular CAT6 crimp terminals. This explains exactly why - thank you!
Hello and thanks for the kind words. I started off with really thick shielded outdoor cable, so I have gotten pretty good at explaining how to deal with it. These days, more often than not, I will terminate it to keystone jacks mounted them in a weatherproof enclosure outside. Then I will use a short outdoor pre-terminated patch cord coming out of the enclosure to the destination device. It makes life a lot easier for a few reasons.
Helpful video! Thanks for creating the content.
Hello N Lay! You are welcome and we are glad you found the content useful! You will find a LOT more detail in our written blogs with still pictures and more. The video you watched here is actually embedded in a written blog. Our written blogs are located in our Cable Academy: www.truecable.com/blogs/cable-academy/. The videos are a supplement to the written blogs.
This was a fantastic detailed overview of a shielded rj45 end crimp. I have done a couple thousand cat 5 ends over the years and was trying to decide if I should do cat 6 or cat 6a for a new run at my house. Looks like I can do cat 6a with the old ends with a little finagling and the cat 6a will be there incase I need it.
Hello! Thanks for the kudos, and we are glad you enjoyed the content. The fitment of the connector to the cable is key. Category is not a relevant metric and a misnomer, when it comes to the correct 8P8C (aka RJ45) plug. Further, if you are permanently installing Cat6A, I suggest using IDC terminations, which is keystone > keystone (or patch panel to keystone, same thing). That is a much more robust way to handle Cat6A as opposed to hand-terminated 8P8C plugs.
does the external grounded connector need to be connected to anything else?
Hello! Technically, no. The reason is our plug has a bare metal interior on the rear portion. Other brands have plastic inserts over the metal, which not only reduces the bonding options for your cable shield but also restricts the diameter of the cable diameter that can fit inside the plug. The external ground functions primarily as the strain relief, which means the external ground tab must be crimped PERFECTLY every time in order to prevent shifting. That all said, if you wish to use the external ground tab as the part of the plug to bond your cable shield/drain wire to, you can do that too. Our plug gives you options.
Can i use a Cat6A cable on a Cat6 Keystone & Connector ?
It depends. Some Cat6A cable is made with conductors with insulation that is too big in diameter to fit some Cat6 jacks. However, if the wire fits, the jack will work, but you will be limited to Cat6 levels of performance.
Very helpful, but something maybe I'm just dumb and didn't understand it would be helpful to add, are you saying we should put the Keystone jack on both ends? In my case I'm running a cable from in my house out to a barn a couple hundred feet away. Are you saying I should use the keystone jack on both ends and then like a patch cable from there to the router? (I'm running from my router inside out to another router it will be in the barn)
And if you happen to actually get this to answer me, what specific cable of yours would you recommend for that? It will be direct burial about 250 feet. And I would like to semi future proof it so I don't have to redo it again 10 or 15 years from now.
I appreciate any help you can give me!
Hello David! Yup, the best way to terminate Ethernet is from keystone to keystone and then use patch cords at both ends. They keystones would be mounted in faceplates opposite the exterior points of entry in both your house and barn. I would suggest our Cat6A Shielded Direct Burial cable with two Cat6A shielded toolless keystone jacks. We sell all of that. We do not sell the patch cords however, so you would need to pick up two Cat6A patch cords of the right length. When you add your 250 feet of underground ground cable to the lengths of the patch cords, the entire channel cannot exceed 328 feet.
sorry to ask , it is universal crimping tools can be use for crimping the Shielded RJ45 connector ?
Hello Faris! No need to apologize for asking anything! I am here to help. Our shielded Cat6/6A external ground RJ45 plug has been specifically designed to work with our trueCABLE All-In-One RJ45 Crimp and Termination Tool. Our All-In-One tool can be used universally on any non-proprietary RJ45, but the plug you are asking about is not universally compatible with all crimping tools.
Thanks a lot! ;-)
Another dummy (you know youtube people...) question : what about Toolless (without tools) RJ45 (6a-7) ? For a oneshot use.
For things like that it’s a situation of, do you get the speed you need. If you use that type of end. Plug it in and it works. Great.
It’s when you install multiple cables that might be used in the future where you need to be careful. That needs to stick to the standards so the person that eventually uses it doesn’t have to diagnose problems.