I'm not trying to bash any company. We've used Monoprice for so many years with no failures. I just wanted to see if it was possibly a bad batch and if anyone else was experiencing what we were. The more likely culprit is my 10+ year old Ideal crimper which I use every day.

I bet they make most of the brands rj45's in the same factory anyway.

We are not cheaping out. We use what works, and if we can get it really cheap so be it. If we have to spend more, that's fine. You are correct, failures are a huge problem. I just want to know where the failure lies.