So, I have been looking at the specs for some branded CAT6 jacks and they rarely mention for how many inserts the jack is rated (also called ''plug insertion life'') and the few that state it state more than 750 (some more than 1000) insertions.
Experience tells me that 750 and 1000 are very optimistic numbers. What kind of CAT6 jacks are more reliable and have longer lives than others? I'd like to hear experiences and opinions.
Peter Grandi wrote in part:
I believe the mfr numbers, but I also believe they're rated under ideal conditions. Particularly with excellent plugs carefully inserted on-axis.
In the wild, like a college campus, neither the good plugs nor the careful users are likely to be present. Either bolt-down patchcords or leave jacks naked. Either way, you'll be doing replacement. I think the patchcords less often (yearly vs quarterly).
-- Robert
[ ... ]
redelm> In the wild, like a college campus, neither the good redelm> plugs nor the careful users are likely to be present. redelm> Either bolt-down patchcords or leave jacks naked. redelm> Either way, you'll be doing replacement. I think the redelm> patchcords less often (yearly vs quarterly).
Ah yes, I am doing replacement, just trying to think of way of minimizing the frequency. I am doing something like "patchcords", which is ''sacrificial'' little switches in the areas with the highest damage rate. I also suspect that some of the sockets have not been well installed and the CAT6 cable is makes sharp bends inside the box, which does not help...
750 insertions is actually the least number that I've seen in the specs in the longest time. I don't think it's overly optimistic. In fact, RJ connectors of cable certifying tools' cords get well in excess of 2000 re-matings easily in the course of testing a large enough site and I've seen them perform OK (but not great) after such abuse.
The actual number depends on thickness of gold plating layer and brand name ones definitely get better gold plating. On top of that I personally think that those jacks that the manufacturers are pitching as Power-over-Ethernet certified might get a thicker layer yet due to higher currents they suppose to withstand. I can think you Hubbell CAT6 as one example of PoE-certified jacks. You should be able to locate more
Correct, the 750 insertions is the minimum requirements from the connector standard.
Correct
Here you are wrong, all jacks meeting the IEC standards for Cat5E or higher must support PoE, so PoE certified jacks are only marketing and has nothing to do with technical requirements.
The cabling groups from TIA and ISO/IEC is together with IEEE working on the requirements for PoE Plus (PoEP), here there are some indications that unmating under load might stress the connectors, this might result in additional requirements in the component standards.
I still think that as someone said that is in lab conditions. Unfortunately my experiences in the past 10-15 years have been in places where installers have not done a great job and sometimes public areas have been involved. But even sw developer teams or sys/net adm prep teams move/change/remove PCs and their net connections frequently, and not that carefully either...
Ahh, but I have found for example that good quality switch sockets are pretty hard wearing too. Here I am thinking specifically bulk wall sockets.
That's probably why all those spec sheets say "> 750 insertions", they have to :-).
Interesting, that's definitely one thing to look for. But I have noticed that sometimes there are _mechanical_ problems, e.g. contacts inside, where wiggling/pushing a bit on the cable makes the socket work, at least while pushed/wiggled.
Never mind the case I found recently of poorly installed sockets where the incoming CAT6 was sharply bent as the wallbox was too small for a smooth turn (I think CAT6 minimum radius is 50mm or so).
Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.