Is this how you wire the RJ45 female wall mount connectors?

I recently did my very first cat5e wiring in my life (details elsewhere).

The tools for the male connectors weren't too hard to figure out but what tools do YOU use for the female connectors?

Here, for example, is the sequence of steps for my very first connection

- but the tool I used seems like overkill for the job it's doing.

Do you have better ideas?

For starters, here is the cat5 cable as I bring it UP from a crawl space five feet above into the wall of a home office (there must be a better way to bring the cable up through the walls):

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Then, here's that cable up in the office to be wired with female RJ45 connections:
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I slit the cat5e outdoor cable with a utility knife (is there something better to use)?
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Then I lined up the wires for a "B" configuration and used this 'fancy punch' to press the wires in. Do you use this type of tool?
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Since the wires didn't get cut off, I had to twist them off:
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Then I clipped them into the wall plate. Is there a rule for which way the RJ45 connector goes in (ie with the little keystone clip thing on top or on the bottom?)
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And, here's the final outcome. Is there a rule for placement of the incoming versus outgoing connections?
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It's already done (my first attempt at wiring cat5e cable) - but I would like to learn & improve from your experience for the next set (coming soon so I can wire the upstairs bedroom).

Reply to
Chuck Banshee
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I would cut the opening in the wall first. You can use a low voltage wall frame like this:

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I'm not sure what type of network you're setting up, with a cable "in" and "out".

Reply to
RBM

Everything looks ok to me except the push on tool. It's really designed for punching down wires onto a Type 66 or Type 110 telco block. The punch down tool includes an impact mechanism that is used with the Type 66 tip to cut off the wire ends against the base of the Type 66 block.

The Type 110 is the same as the RJ45 jack, so everyone logically assumes that you should use the same tool and the same technique. Nope. The impact mechanism in the tool is quite suitable for telco blocks, but might break the more fragile RJ45 jack. In the retail box with the RJ45 jack is usually a blue plastic push-on tool, which is more suitable for the purpose. You can also use the punch down tool if you do NOT push hard enough to engage the impact mechanism.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Every 110 punch on tool I have seen has a reversible or switchable "business" end. The punch blade has a cutting end and a non cutting end. If not reversible there may be a second blade hidden in the tool handle.

LdB

Reply to
LdB

It was my mistake not to refer to this picture:

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In that picture, it shows I did exactly (almost) what you suggested.

What I did was drill the hole in the wall down the five feet to the crawl space below - and THEN I pulled the wires through. Only after that, did I cut the opening for the wall plate as shown in the picture above.

Had I cut the opening first, I would have seen that there was an electrical wire dangerously close to where I had drilled!

Since that electrical wire went rigidly into a stud exactly where I had cut, had I moved the drill just an inch further up on the wall, I would have drilled right through the electrical wire!

Even as it is, with my close miss, I wonder if the cat5e cable is too close to the electrical wire for safety?

There's already a whole thread on just that! :) See: Does having multiple RJ45 jacks degrade the Internet signal a lot?

Suffice to say it's a 'star network' which you guys recommended, where the WISP antenna outside is the WAN 'input' connection which goes to a POE and then to the broadband router.

All other connections are 'outputs' in the sense that they go from the LAN output ports on the broadband router back to the wall which then feeds other portions of the house.

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

I'm amazed (I guess I shouldn't be) that you are spot on right. You already know that which confused me without me even saying it!

That's why it felt like overkill and didn't work to cut the wires!

(I didn't realize this until you just said it - but something didn't feel right when I tried to understand the tool, what with it's adjustable 'impact settings' and the wire cutter that didn't cut the wires!)

Until you said that, I couldn't figure out 'why' there was an adjustable impact settings. It didn't seem to make sense for what I was using it for. I realize now it's the wrong tool!

I asked at Home Depot what tool to use - and this is the $20 tool the guy gave me. I don't blame him (he didn't have to help me) ... but I do thank you for explaining why it just felt wrong while I was using it.

Don't get me wrong, it worked (sort of, as it didn't cut the wires). It just didn't feel like it was the right tool for the right job at the time of using it. Now I know why.

It did feel like it was pounding in the wires!

I saw those little tools with the jacks. They were about $5 as opposed to about $3 for each of the RJ45 female jacks. So, in hind sight, I should have bought one of the female jacks with the tool, and two of the female jacks without the tool.

But, since I was buying the Home Depot-recommended $20 tool, I figured it would be extraneous to buy the jack with the plastic throw-away tool.

My mistake. Lesson learned. I'm glad you told me (and anyone who reads this in the future will be forewarned).

Now you tell me! :)

Actually, all your advice will still help me because I plan on adding an upstairs bedroom to my office wall plate.

The only problem at the moment is figuring out HOW to get up through the wall to the upstairs bedroom because the wall is about in the middle of the floor of the upstairs bedroom - so I can't (yet) figure out how to get to it (I may have to go outside and then back in down the outside wall. Yuck.)

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

This is why you would cut the wall opening first. You can see what may be in the path of your drill and avoid it. The opening also makes it easier to negotiate the path of the drill bit. So your router is going at this location. Your wisp input is the Wan to the router, and you only have one LAN output, to the game room?

Reply to
RBM

The darn thing didn't come with any instructions!

The label says "898-110" "Commercial Electric" "Impact Punch Down Tool with 110 Blade", Made in China, Distributed by Home Depot U.S.A., Inc.

The text only says (in English & Spanish):

- Terminates & Cuts in a Single Punch (it didn't cut wires for me!)

- Increased Hi-Lo Impact Force (which was meaningless for my purpose)

- Rubber Embedded Cushion Grip for comfort (which didn't matter to me)

And that's it!

I now realize, from what Jeff said, it's the wrong tool for the wrong job. I should have stuck with the $2 dollar (additional) plastic tool that comes with (some of) the female RJ45 jacks.

Lesson learned!

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

Now you tell me! :)

Actually, it's a lesson learned for me. NEXT time (like when I do the upstairs bedroom), I'll locate the studs and cut the opening first!

BTW, the little orange box didn't come with a template - so I reversed it and poked four little holes in the wallboard with a sharp-tipped dart to mark the corners.

I cut the wallboard with a utility knife - but I messed it up (and almost cut into the electrical wire which I didn't know what there).

Do you guys use a 'punch' of sorts to cut out the wallboard rectangle?

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

Here's the wiring diagram of what you see connected:

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What that additional RJ45 square hole in the wall plate is for is another wire going to the upstairs bedroom, just above the office.

The only problem is that the lower-floor office wall is in the middle of the floor of the upper bedroom - so I still haven't figured out how to get a wire from that wall plate, up the wall (if possible) and then somehow to a wall in the upstairs bedroom (I may have to go outside and shoot straight up the outside wall).

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

it was the proper tool. those jacks are just like a 110 block and have a ledge for the knife to cut against. It just wasn't being used properly with a proper backing.

Reply to
Steve Barker

personally, i just make a big enough hole for the back of the jacks, and then use screw in sheetrock anchors to mount the plate. No box frame needed.

Reply to
Steve Barker

Hi Jeff,

That is obvious ... um ... er ... but only after it's obvious.

For example, I hadn't thought about it ... and I had expected the tool to do the snipping (since it had a knife blade). Of course, the tool didn't snip (because it's the wrong tool for that job).

So I twisted it off (without thinking of what you just said).

So, NEXT TIME, I 'will' put the cover on before twisting the leads off.

Thanks for the tip. Anyone reading this will have a head start on me (which is a good thing)!

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

It almost sounds serious! :)

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

Well, I 'was' on soft carpet. Next time, I'd put a board under me when snipping it. You don't have much leeway on surfaces as the wire length is only protruding so much from the wall and you can't wire ahead of time.

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

I think you will need to cut a couple holes in the drywall and use a fish tape (eg:

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to pull the wire (or string) through. In the ceiling, you want to go "with the beams".

Cut your hole in the drywall near a stud so it can be nailed back in easily. I use a razor knife to cut the hole down the middle of a stud, that makes it easy to nail it back up. You can use a drywall saw (eg:

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cut your holes outside the stud. Make the holes big enough to get your drill where needed.

You can buy drywall tape and patching mud to repair the holes. I hope you saved some original paint for touch-ups. :)

Reply to
paulaner

Nobody addressed this to my knowledge so can I 'assume' it doesn't matter which way the keystone goes (up or down)?

Without any convention to go by, I put the clip-side up because I assumed my thumb would be on top when removing the cable.

But I don't know if there is a 'convention' like there is for electrical outlets of the ground being on the bottom.

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

There's no standard, but in general, I use clip side DOWN. That has no benefits for wall jacks that have plugs installed doing something useful. However, if the wall jack is unused, it's best to have the gold connections on the TOP of the jack, so that dirt, dust, crud, filth, and liquids do not land and accumulate on the connections. I've had to clean out the gold wires from wall jacks that were mounted wrong.

If you look at the wall plates that have built in labels, the labels would obviously go above the connector. The orientation of the RJ45 jack then becomes apparent. This is not a very good photo, but the best I could find:

Note the labels above the connectors, and the resultant jack orientation of clip side DOWN.

There is, but it's not rigid. The problem is that wall mounted jacks are fairly well protected, so it's not really important.

The typical "muffin" surface mount box is a problem.

Many installers will attach these to the baseboard with the jacks pointing UP. That makes it easy to get to the jacks, but also turns the jack into a funnel shaped collector of debris and crud. Pointing the connectors down makes no sense, leaving mounting it so the jacks are on the sides as the least disgusting method of attachment.

Reply to
Jeff Liebermann

Interesting perspective.

Makes a lot of sense.

Thanks for the insight Jeff, yet again.

You are the best!

Reply to
Chuck Banshee

Just to go over the point of jack orientation, the reasoning for mounting the wall jack with the retaining clip "Down" is to have the contacts of the RJ-45 on the top (up) so in the event debris were to collect in the wall jack it will not contact the exposed contacts inside the jack causing a short and thus causing a network problem.

Reply to
Dr Ted

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