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Crimping ethernet is a mandatory tech skill for every geeky homeowner. It's not that hard, but there's a few things it takes a while to figure out are really i

by RajT88 5y ago

Crimping ethernet is a mandatory tech skill for every geeky homeowner. It's not that hard, but there's a few things it takes a while to figure out are really important. Once you do that, you can do it really consistently. Wireless is nice and all. Powerline ethernet is great when it works out of the box, and a Kafkaesque nightmare when it does not.

toast0 5y ago
You don't even need to crimp unless you really want to. Everything should go to punchdown blocks, either on the room jacks or a patch panel. Crimping is for the patch cables, if you can find manufactures cables for less, no need to make your own.
- RajT88 5y ago
  I guess I included punchdowns in that. Both punchdowns and crimping have subtle things to do which are important to make it consistent.
vonseel 5y ago
I suspect the biggest barrier to most homeowners running Ethernet besides not knowing that it’s not that difficult is insulated walls. Running some cables through walls without insulation to the attic and making some drops is not problem, but if you have insulation in the way the job is a lot more difficult.
- RajT88 5y ago
  I do acknowledge that there are many small (big) barriers. I am on my second home, the first was a condo where I had no access to the "above" or the "below", only the "within". Phone lines had been run, so I thought I could attach Cat5 to the phone lines and pull them through -- but the previous owner had decided to wall up the phone jacks. No idea where they were, and no access to the "above" part. Let's just say - I tried a lot of things to figure out where the walled up phone lines were, but never could get to the level of confidence you would want before you start knocking random holes in the wall in a property you own. Powerline Ethernet was a godsend - for a while. Then one day (7ish years) it started struggling, and eventually couldn't stay connected. To untangle that was going to be hundreds of dollars of hardware and research and/or contractors (side note: have you tried asking an electrician to assess Powerline Ethernet issues?) -- I went wireless at that point. New house maybe a year back after getting married (yay!). Ran ethernet. Used these guys: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00404UATS https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00404UATS Yeah, I drilled some holes in the wood floor. I am not that rich, nor is my neighborhood, it's a non-issue. Game consoles, NAS devices and work computers have ethernet. Everything else less hungry (or important) like a tablet or mobile has wireless. Life is good.

by RajT88 5y ago

toast0 5y ago

You don't even need to crimp unless you really want to. Everything should go to punchdown blocks, either on the room jacks or a patch panel. Crimping is for the patch cables, if you can find manufactures cables for less, no need to make your own.

RajT88 5y ago
I guess I included punchdowns in that. Both punchdowns and crimping have subtle things to do which are important to make it consistent.

vonseel 5y ago

I suspect the biggest barrier to most homeowners running Ethernet besides not knowing that it’s not that difficult is insulated walls. Running some cables through walls without insulation to the attic and making some drops is not problem, but if you have insulation in the way the job is a lot more difficult.

RajT88 5y ago
I do acknowledge that there are many small (big) barriers. I am on my second home, the first was a condo where I had no access to the "above" or the "below", only the "within". Phone lines had been run, so I thought I could attach Cat5 to the phone lines and pull them through -- but the previous owner had decided to wall up the phone jacks. No idea where they were, and no access to the "above" part. Let's just say - I tried a lot of things to figure out where the walled up phone lines were, but never could get to the level of confidence you would want before you start knocking random holes in the wall in a property you own. Powerline Ethernet was a godsend - for a while. Then one day (7ish years) it started struggling, and eventually couldn't stay connected. To untangle that was going to be hundreds of dollars of hardware and research and/or contractors (side note: have you tried asking an electrician to assess Powerline Ethernet issues?) -- I went wireless at that point. New house maybe a year back after getting married (yay!). Ran ethernet. Used these guys: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00404UATS https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00404UATS Yeah, I drilled some holes in the wood floor. I am not that rich, nor is my neighborhood, it's a non-issue. Game consoles, NAS devices and work computers have ethernet. Everything else less hungry (or important) like a tablet or mobile has wireless. Life is good.