SnapAV's website shows exactly what I'm looking for but they are "Coming Soon."
[Link: snapav.com]

Liberty only has tool-less punch down style connectors last I checked and their website is down at the moment.

I'm not interested in using EZ RJ45s.

Where do you guys get these connectors?  I've only seen them from websites that I've never purchased from before.

SnapAV tech support recommended these to me for their shielded CAT6:
 
[Link: lanshack.com]

I'd never ordered from them, but they arrived without issue.

Can I ask why you don't like the EZ RJs?

I wasn't aware of any drawbacks of the EZs and there is a benefit to knowing all your conductors are fully seated.

The problems with EZ RJs has been mentioned before. Most installers don't replace the cutter when they become dull and when they try to terminate, the dull blade pulls on the wires unevenly, causing the lengths to be uneven and bad for HDMI. It also allows the end to pull out and pull down, making it hard to insert fully in a jack.

It's not that hard to terminate the usual RJ-45, is it?

muchas gracias

what he said

This came up just today, and a search tells me that my local A/V distributor carries the wire but not the connectors -- a stupid approach that A#I uses with plenum camera siamese -- requiring me to go to two different businesses. But Grainger, of all people, list a shielded CAT5 connector!* I haven't checked the wire gauge that it's for, though.





*Here's some CI humor for ya: Grainger's connector is listed as being manufactured by monoprice!

L Com. www.l-com.com Lots of fun toys.

I was on snaps site yesterday and it said they were available. Or perhaps that was the nonshielded finally being avail. Hmmm I forget now

Says its ONLY works with cat6A not cat6. Didnt know two cat6 existed, lol. Whats the difference?

I have spare blades in my bag right now, both your issues seem predicated on using dull cutting blades. Is this really the only negative?

Re: pulling the wire unevenly, even with a badly notched blade, it seems the most the conductor could be "pulled" is a fraction of a millimeter. That seems insignificant to me.

Re: hard to insert. I could see this as a problem, but I've never encountered it.

It's not "hard" to terminate the usual RJ-45; just seems the negatives of the std plug outweigh the negatives of the EZ in my mind.

The STD: has to be chop cut at a pretty close to perfect right angle to get all the conductors the same length and then held very straight and pressure applied when crimping to get the conductors fully seated. You can only apply pressure from the "back" when doing this. Not to mention that length of untwist on conductors (<0.5") makes it very hard to insert without them going wonky.

The EZ (with a good blade): no chop cutting needed, once conductors are in the plug and inserted into the crimper, you can both push from the "back" and pull the conductors from the "front" to assure there is as little untwist as possible and the jacket is fully under the retaining thingy. Also pulling on the conductors as they are cut helps to assure that the cut is clean with minimum of extra outside the plug.

With a cat 6 EZ i can get the untwisted conductor length less then .25"; that is simply not possible with the std plug.

Once I got EZ plugs, I have never looked back and I haven't had an issue with them that couldn't be solved with a re-termination, that I know of.

Granted I don't do a lot of HDMI baluns and there may be other issues with those I am not aware of but I'm sticking with them.

I think CAT6A is rated for higher bandwidth than CAT6 which makes it a better candidate for HDMI transmission.

The shielded RJ45 connectors that were recommended to me by SnapAV work well with their shielded CAT cable.  I'm using their cable and the connectors I linked at several jobs already without issue.

Make sure you check the specs of your cable vs. the specs of the RJ45 connectors. For instance, every CAT6 cable I've seen has been 23 gauge (the proper spec as far as I can tell). But the CAT6 RJ45 STP connectors from L-Com state they are for 24-26 gauge cable. Cramming 23 gauge in there may work...it may not. Plus it might blow the spec if you have to provide it for the job.

[Link: l-com.com]

In the case of what SB Smarthomes is using...Snap CAT6 STP is 23 gauge. The ends he was referred to show a spec of conductors in the range of .044 to .048 (but they don't say what that is, mm? microns? who knows!). At least he knows they indeed do fit. Just some food for thought...

Angstroms. Probably.

The issue I've heard with the EZ ends is that it squishes and ovalizes the conductor tips, bringings them closer together and increasing crosstalk. If you have a Fluke DTX or similar, it's easy to test - do one patch cord regularly, then do another, but cut the ends of the wire off yourself with cutters, then pull it back until it's flush.