[kwlug-disc] Recommendations on ethernet cable tool sets, kits?

[CrankyOldBugger]

All this talk about cabling.. I smell a good topic for some future
meeting...


On 29 January 2018 at 09:42, Cedric Puddy <cedric at ccjclearline.com> wrote:

> Hi Folks!
>
> Copule quick points:
>
> 1) Byte Brothers (I got mine from PrimeSpec) makes a cable certifier that
> sits in between basic continuity testing and totally far-gone cable
> certifiers -- it's about $500.  It's about 95% of a classy, $6k unit.  The
> trade-offs are more in the line of terrible user interface and slow, fussy
> workflow, but that's no big deal if you aren't doing high numbers of
> drops.  (You do a single cable, you have to run back and forth connecting a
> terminal block on the far end, then pushing buttons the near end, etc.  But
> it definitely gives you a very good read-back on whether the cable you
> punched down was done right.
>
> 2) IF YOU ARE CRIMPING MALE RJ45 ENDS ON A CABLE, YOU ARE DOING IT WONG
> AND SHOULD JUST STOP.  INSTALL KEYSTONE JACKS AT ALL TIMES.  OK, so that's
> a bit strong, but seriously, I deal with lots of cables, and I haven't
> crimped a male RJ45 end on a cable since about 2003.   I gave away my RJ45
> crimp tools, don't carry one, and neither do my techs.  The reason:  you
> cannot manually make a patch cable to nearly the same spec as machines, and
> it is FAR more reliable to attach a keystone jack; moreover the
> manufactured cables are cheap and plentiful.
>
> Keystone jacks are a lot more forgiving, faster, and easy to inspect/fix
> if there's a problem.  And a shout out to Primespec -- I buy all this kind
> of stuff there; cabling is  only cost effective if you have a proper vendor
> who serves the professional cabling market.  Home Despot marks this stuff
> up "a hair too much", in my experience.
>
> We usually sub-contract cabling, but sometimes "internal resources" have
> to chip in.  When that happens, we usually do continuity testing when we
> install a keystone jack, and only occasionally use the Byte Brothers
> certifier.  For continuity, my absolutely favourite tool is the Ideal
> LinkMaster Pro, with a bunch of remotes.  The awesome thing about this unit
> is that if you plug it into a cable with a remote on the end, it will
> instantly power on, test the cable, tell you if it's good within 2 seconds,
> and then go back to sleep when you unplug the cable.  I've used my for
> years and changed the battery once, and it's just so damn fast.  It does a
> variety of things, but the "UX experience" can't be beat.  No idea who
> sells them these days, or how much.  https://www.google.ca/
> search?q=ideal+supply+cable+tester&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=
> 0ahUKEwiI99KDsv3YAhVs_IMKHb7qA3AQ_AUICygC&biw=1270&
> bih=2043#imgrc=kKnl2wz6FDhssM:
>
> Anyhoo, my 0.02!  Make it a great one!
>
>   -Cedric
>
>
> On 29 January 2018 at 09:04, nafdef <nafdef at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Bob. -FF
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------
>>  Roger Federer Fanatic Extraordinaire :-)
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> kwlug-disc mailing list
>> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
>> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> kwlug-disc mailing list
> kwlug-disc at kwlug.org
> http://kwlug.org/mailman/listinfo/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kwlug.org/pipermail/kwlug-disc_kwlug.org/attachments/20180129/1e9aa154/attachment.htm>