Cables are fine until that stupid clip breaks off and every nudge unplugs the fucking cable ever so slightly that it doesn’t work but you can’t see it.
Get a crimp tool and a 50-pack of connectors. If one breaks, it takes all of 60 seconds to re-crimp the end and you’ll only lose about an inch of cable length.
I re-cabled my entire apartment when I first moved in. Best decision I ever made. I just used the existing Cat5 lines to pull my Cat6a instead. Apartment got a free upgrade to Cat6a (which they never even knew about, because I wasn’t going to lose a deposit over something stupid like “unapproved upgrades” and I got my tasty gigabit.
I was trying to download Red Dead Redemption 2. It was like 120GB, and was going to take hours at 10Mbps on the existing Cat5. I quickly said “fuck that, I can run new lines in 45 minutes and have the download done in 20 minutes with gigabit.” Sure enough, about an hour later, I was playing my game.
I remember running out of those at work, & intentionally crushing the cheap-ass crimp-tool in my hand, just so I could finish up the next day with pass-through connectors & my Klein tool, rather than spend the next two hours re-terminating connectors that I ‘should have’ gotten exactly right the first time.
I had whatb I assumed was a fault modem/router from the isp and one of the ports ran at 100mbps while the other ran at 1000. I figured this out when it took forever to transfer a file that was just a few gb.
I have zero experience with networking hardware. How hard is it to recable an apartment for a newb like me? How does that even work, do I gotta pull wires out of the walls?
Adding new connectors means you only need about an inch extra on each side. Very low skill required if you have the (cheap) tools to do it. Actually putting new wires in place is a bit harder but still fairly easy. Attach some string to the old cable, pull it all the way through the walls. Attach the new cable to the string, then pull that through the walls. Then just add the connectors like the other scenario.
If the holes are sized for a single ethernet cable, you won’t be able to pull through two. If your confident holes are all oversized, sure go for it. Otherwise you risk getting it stuck half way through a wall and pulling the two cables apart
This is why Pro level is to terminate all of your permanent cabling with punch down jacks and patch panels, then use throw-away patch cables from jacks to devices.
All of money and downtime I save from replacing broken RJ45 plugs more than covers the $10 tool and extra $2 that it costs for a keystone jack and wall mount box.
Cables are fine until that stupid clip breaks off and every nudge unplugs the fucking cable ever so slightly that it doesn’t work but you can’t see it.
Get a crimp tool and a 50-pack of connectors. If one breaks, it takes all of 60 seconds to re-crimp the end and you’ll only lose about an inch of cable length.
I re-cabled my entire apartment when I first moved in. Best decision I ever made. I just used the existing Cat5 lines to pull my Cat6a instead. Apartment got a free upgrade to Cat6a (which they never even knew about, because I wasn’t going to lose a deposit over something stupid like “unapproved upgrades” and I got my tasty gigabit.
I was trying to download Red Dead Redemption 2. It was like 120GB, and was going to take hours at 10Mbps on the existing Cat5. I quickly said “fuck that, I can run new lines in 45 minutes and have the download done in 20 minutes with gigabit.” Sure enough, about an hour later, I was playing my game.
Make sure to get pass-through RJ45 connectors.
It’s 10x easier to trim the excess after crimping, rather than getting the lengths spot on before.
I remember running out of those at work, & intentionally crushing the cheap-ass crimp-tool in my hand, just so I could finish up the next day with pass-through connectors & my Klein tool, rather than spend the next two hours re-terminating connectors that I ‘should have’ gotten exactly right the first time.
Dunno, I have no problems with regular RJ45 connectors.
I had whatb I assumed was a fault modem/router from the isp and one of the ports ran at 100mbps while the other ran at 1000. I figured this out when it took forever to transfer a file that was just a few gb.
I have zero experience with networking hardware. How hard is it to recable an apartment for a newb like me? How does that even work, do I gotta pull wires out of the walls?
Adding new connectors means you only need about an inch extra on each side. Very low skill required if you have the (cheap) tools to do it. Actually putting new wires in place is a bit harder but still fairly easy. Attach some string to the old cable, pull it all the way through the walls. Attach the new cable to the string, then pull that through the walls. Then just add the connectors like the other scenario.
Pull the new cables taped to the old cables, no need for the string step.
If the holes are sized for a single ethernet cable, you won’t be able to pull through two. If your confident holes are all oversized, sure go for it. Otherwise you risk getting it stuck half way through a wall and pulling the two cables apart
Fair point. I’m an electrician by trade so i hate it people drill holes that small, but it does happen.
I have a collection of 3d prints on thingiverse that reattach that part. Highly recommend.
This is why Pro level is to terminate all of your permanent cabling with punch down jacks and patch panels, then use throw-away patch cables from jacks to devices.
Look at mr moneybags with their fancy data closet.
It’s not that expensive… you can buy a home punch down board for cheap, just need some space. You don’t need an actual rack.
All of money and downtime I save from replacing broken RJ45 plugs more than covers the $10 tool and extra $2 that it costs for a keystone jack and wall mount box.
It’s pretty easy to crimp a new one back on, and even easier with a 30 dollar tool.
Easy fix with a tight layer of electrical tape to act as a wedge. You can also shove a toothpick in the top for extra staying power.
Crimp tool: 2$
100 RJ45: 3$
Your problem will be solved for rest of you life and life of your children for 5 dollars.
Stealing them off my workplace :0$