How fragile are CAT6 cables really? (cat6 cable refuses to pass 1gbps)

[Shepanator]

Hey all,

 

I just moved places and I noticed that I'm not getting the advertised 1gbps from my home network. Both my router and my pc are 1gbps capable, but it maxes out at 100mbps

I'm using a 15 meter (50ft) cat 6 cable which was previously held to a wall with cable tacks, I unfortunately don't have another cat6 cable to test it but I assume based on what I've read that this is the problem. I've already ordered a new cable but what I'm wondering is how fragile are they really? I don't think I abused this cable but it's seen a 90% decrease in capacity versus it's spec!

 

This concerns me because I'm planning to lay the new cable underneath a baseboard, and it would be a huge pain if it suffers a similar fate during or after installation. Is this one place where buying a more expensive cable really is worth it for the better build quality?

[cole0622]

If your running near power you could be picking up a lot of interference, also if you accidentally cut through the insulation you could have problems. Did you terminate the connections yourself if so check those connections.

[Windows7ge]

I've outright abused Cat5e cable and had it work for years. I don't expect Cat6 to be much different. Of course this also depends if the cables copper wires are solid core or stranded. Stranded is a lot more flexible. If the cable is at fault there's a higher probability that it's an issue near the connector on one end or the other. Often the wires can break near the ends of the cable from users abusing them.

 

I'll be curious to hear if a new cable fixes your issue. I've heard it helping people and I've heard it not so I'm skeptical. If you happen to have any Cat5e around that will work too.

[Lurick]

Where did you get the cable from?

Can you post a link? If it's damaged I'm curious if you bought CCA cable (copper clad aluminum) and not pure copper. CCA cable is also very fragile and can easily break.

[cole0622]

I have solid core pure copper cat6 and ran into a lot of little problems at the connector you can find a 1000' box of cat 6 for $50-70 on ebay or probably amazon

[Shepanator]

29 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Where did you get the cable from?

Can you post a link? If it's damaged I'm curious if you bought CCA cable (copper clad aluminum) and not pure copper. CCA cable is also very fragile and can easily break.

I bought it from this seller on Amazon (15m cat6 option)

I don't see anything on the page about it's construction

[fredrichnietze]

about keystone termination, you need to have 1/2 a inch of wire coming out of the cable and the cable needs to be inside the keystone. the trick to this is to  patch the 4 wires closest to the back of the keystone first, then shove the cable into the connector and patch down the remaining 4 closer to the plug. this allows you be in spec for length and have the protection all the way into the keystone which helps with crosstalk and fire protection in case of short. the other trick is to have the cable come from above and patch the wires in with enough length to move around a bit but be 1/2 in in spec then shove the cable into the keystone. i find this a bit harder to do personally but whatever floats your boat. i use the word shove because they do not give you a lot of room for the cable using cat6. be sure to clip off the plastic divider or it will never fit. 

[cole0622]

8 minutes ago, fredrichnietze said:

about keystone termination, you need to have 1/2 a inch of wire coming out of the cable and the cable needs to be inside the keystone. the trick to this is to  patch the 4 wires closest to the back of the keystone first, then shove the cable into the connector and patch down the remaining 4 closer to the plug. this allows you be in spec for length and have the protection all the way into the keystone which helps with crosstalk and fire protection in case of short. the other trick is to have the cable come from above and patch the wires in with enough length to move around a bit but be 1/2 in in spec then shove the cable into the keystone. i find this a bit harder to do personally but whatever floats your boat. i use the word shove because they do not give you a lot of room for the cable using cat6. be sure to clip off the plastic divider or it will never fit. 

for cat 6 it is 1/4" not 1/2" is it not?

[fredrichnietze]

5 hours ago, cole0622 said:

for cat 6 it is 1/4" not 1/2" is it not?

i have always heard 1/2 inch but looking through various building code and tia/eia standards i cant find it. 

[cole0622]

10 minutes ago, fredrichnietze said:

i have always heard 1/2 inch but looking through various building code and tia/eia standards i cant find it. 

I thought 1/2" was allowed for cat 5, and cat5e and up they reduced it to 1/4"

[trueCABLE]

The ANSI/TIA 568 specification is still 0.5" no matter the Category.  I have the spec, all 400 pages of it, and have confirmed this to be the case.  The whole 3/16" thing came about when manufacturers along with Fluke Networks advised that getting the untwist as close as possible to the actual point of termination is ideal.  In the case of an RJ45, the plug physically cannot allow anything closer than 3/16" so that somehow became a "gold standard" especially with pass through plugs.  No matter, it is still 0.5" per the spec in any case.  Getting the untwist even shorter just adds headroom to the jack-->cable-->jack (or plug) combination in performance terms.

[trueCABLE]

On 12/6/2019 at 8:20 PM, fredrichnietze said:

about keystone termination, you need to have 1/2 a inch of wire coming out of the cable and the cable needs to be inside the keystone. the trick to this is to  patch the 4 wires closest to the back of the keystone first, then shove the cable into the connector and patch down the remaining 4 closer to the plug. this allows you be in spec for length and have the protection all the way into the keystone which helps with crosstalk and fire protection in case of short. the other trick is to have the cable come from above and patch the wires in with enough length to move around a bit but be 1/2 in in spec then shove the cable into the keystone. i find this a bit harder to do personally but whatever floats your boat. i use the word shove because they do not give you a lot of room for the cable using cat6. be sure to clip off the plastic divider or it will never fit. 

Just to clarify...when you advise to remove the "plastic divider" I believe you are referring to the spline?

 

As to punching down the two shortest first...not a bad idea at all.  You really do have to look at each keystone jack and cable combo to find the best strategy for punching it down.  It makes a lot of sense to plan out which pairs go to which side and adjust for that since you don't want to deal multiple crossing pairs making life difficult!

[fredrichnietze]

6 hours ago, trueCABLE said:

Just to clarify...when you advise to remove the "plastic divider" I believe you are referring to the spline?

 

this white thing, where you cut the cable. 

[trueCABLE]

Yup, that is the spline.