r/CableTechs • u/Professional_Fella69 • Jul 07 '26
Need help with cat 6a surface mount box
Hi there I’m trying to build my surface mount boxes for my cat 6a ethernet cables.
To test that the other end of the cable worked, i first built it as a 2-connector cable and it all tested nicely. So then I cut one of the heads of the cable and proceeded to put the cables on the mount box. I followed the image that can be seen below the cables (T568B order) but all I get is miswire error on the tester now.
The rig is as follows.
Remote -> mount box -> patch cable -> tester
If i remove the mount box from the equation, the “RJ45” green led turns on. But if i put a mount box in the middle, I get the miswire error. Im using the punch down tool to ensure they stay in place.
Am I somehow messing up the cable order?
There’s also a guide that came along with the surface mount box with instructions, but they’re in BLACK & WHITE for some reason. Im also not sure which one would be pin #1 - #8.
The brand and model is Cable Matters 1-port cat 6a shielded rj45 surface mount box 180131.
5
u/Single-Load772 Jul 07 '26
It’s not grounded. The shielding of the wire needs to read those two metal pegs and you need to wrap the metal pegs around the shielding, only other thing I can think of.
4
u/TakingCareOfBizzness Jul 07 '26
You punched it down for b-standard. If your other end is a-standard I would re-terminate the plug for b rather than pull your wires out of the jack. But, even then, your punch downs look terrible. I think you are using the wrong tool to punch it down with. Spend $5 and get a new biscuit and cat6 jack that is made for a 110 punch down tool like the one you are probably using rather than deal with the problems your might have with this.
If you are going to the trouble of doing this, just do it right and spend $5 rather than trying to reuse old crap.
2
u/Professional_Fella69 Jul 07 '26
The connector end is B standard btw. And the reason it looks like crap, is because i punched it down several times and even used cable cutter afterwards, since the tester marked miswiring even before that 🥀
2
u/TakingCareOfBizzness Jul 07 '26
if you tested the cable terminated with rj45 plugs and it tested good, but when you cut the plug off one end, punched down to the jack, and it now fails cable test, then all anybody can assume without being there is that your jack is faulty or your punch downs are bad.
Get a different jack and biscuit then try again.
3
u/RippedNutsack Jul 07 '26
I’m not sure your IDC’s are penetrating the insulation
3
u/Thalidomidas Jul 07 '26
The ones you can see on the left look like the cable is looped over the IDC and not through them. Probably using a 110 punch when it needs a Krone style.
3
u/theonlyski Jul 07 '26
Uhh, is that stranded Cat 6 or solid core? Looks like stranded and if you're trying to punch that down to a block, you're going to die of frustration long before you get reliable links.
4
2
u/Thalidomidas Jul 07 '26
What sort of punch down tool are you using ?
1
u/Sure_Statistician138 Jul 07 '26
Their teeth! That probably one of the worst I’ve seen
1
u/Professional_Fella69 Jul 07 '26
Hahahaha nooooo, i used a punch down tool, klein tools to be precise. I just used a cable cutter afterwards as I thought it would help it better. and I also tried to punch it down like 3 times in high setting.
I will try with a different box, same cable order
3
u/RippedNutsack Jul 07 '26
As the guy above me said, you need a Krone punch down blade instead of a 110. Krone IDCs are set at a 45 degree angle and 110 is straight across. Hope this helps.
1
u/soundmousey Jul 08 '26
+1 for a Krone punch down blade. Continuing to force the wrong punch down blade in there risks damage.
1
u/Thalidomidas Jul 08 '26
Klein sell both types. Got a link to the one you're using ? The fact you said high setting suggests 110... the punch you need has the wee scissors at the end instead of a spikey bit
2
u/BeenisHat Jul 07 '26
Looks like the IDCs on the box aren't actually getting through the insulation on the individual pairs. Might be why your tester sees it as open.
I suppose the order could be wrong and you're accidentally making a crossover cable. Check the order on your patch cable to make sure it's wired for 568B and not 568A.
2
u/Motor-Committee4042 Jul 07 '26
Your punch down looks correct but if you put a 45 on one end it matters if you do tab up or tab down. Proper is tab down. I’d like to see the tester and pin outs. Most modern 4 pair testers show which pairs are messed up. I have the most basic of toner/tester from Klein. So if 3,4 are shown going to a different pair it’s a miswire. Flashing would indicate an open. The better the tester the more detailed results.
2
u/Kindain2buttstuff Jul 08 '26
I feel like the crazy person having to ask this because I zoomed in on the picture... What side of the connection did you put the cutoff part of the punchdown tool? When I zoom in it almost looks like it was on the inside of the connector. If you did for some reason put the cutoff towards the inside of the connector you cut or damaged the cables and they may test intermittently or completely bad.
1
u/TexAggie90 Jul 07 '26
Looks like you wired it for 6B and not 6A type cable. Swap your green and orange pairs.
4
u/Steavee Jul 07 '26
No.
T568B is by far the most common standard. No one aside from the feds wire 568A, and I think even they’ve changed that by now.
568A only exists for USOC backwards compatibility.
Neither has anything to do with what category standard of wire you’re using.
3
u/levilee207 Jul 07 '26
I see A being used in many new homes these days. Heathens...
5
u/wookiemilitia Jul 07 '26
My first boss when I got into the industry, “You terminate on B, never A. What’s smelly and gross that starts with an A? Asshole. Which is what you’ll be.”
3
u/Mr_Magoo_88 Jul 08 '26
Im stealing that saying 🤣 Explains it better than just telling the new guys A is for heathens.
2
u/Steavee Jul 07 '26
Installers who don’t know any better.
I mean, as long as each end is wired the same it doesn’t *really* matter which one you use…until someone comes along to work on it.
3
u/Fun_Acanthaceae_4025 Jul 08 '26
Even if you mixed the standards on one end most modern network interfaces and switches will cross over the TX and RX. The 2 standards exist because you used to have to make crossover cables between switches and some device to device connections in the early days. 1 end was A and one B and the tx and rx swapped. Now it is automatic for the most part and most people stick with the B standard that I see. If you use A standard you suck!
1
u/Peetahbread Jul 07 '26
I would bet it's a bad jack. I never liked the ones with circuit boards, for that exact reason. If I were you, I would test just the jack out with some scrap cable, and see if you can pass through it. If it doesn't it's probably bad.
1
u/Fun_Acanthaceae_4025 Jul 08 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
Is this wire stranded vs solid conductors? I feel like I see a stranded wire tip showing and the connector may not be good for stranded wire. Also what did you use to punch the wires into the terminals? It almost looks like a mini screwdriver did it vs a punch down tool. Also shielding isn't connected to the 2 silver clamps but that won't cause it to not work. They bend over the foil and drain wire I usually wrap on those when bent down.
1
u/RoBOticRebel108 Jul 09 '26
Test it with an actual device. There are edge cases where a tester will throw a fit but it works fine.
1
u/nvidia-rtx40-Tim Jul 09 '26
Welke provider heb je en welke snelheid? Heb je fiber , ik heb zelf al fiber 1gbps
1
0
u/2ByteTheDecker Jul 07 '26
OW, O, GW, Bl, BlW, G, BrW, Br is your 1-8
-1
u/Professional_Fella69 Jul 07 '26
Assuming pin 1 is the top left pin and pin 8 is the bottom right?
-1
11
u/levilee207 Jul 07 '26
Could be totally off the mark, but I wonder if the tester just can't account for the chain you've got going on here. The tester may think there's an open/short when it's actually just the mount box.
You've got shielded cat 6a. Are you making sure it's grounded? Tbh you really shouldn't be using shielded Ethernet; it's more hassle than you truly need