RJ45 Connector won't Lock

[cw4u]

I've done about 40 or so patch cables, and none of the cat6 rj45s will lock. They transmit perfectly, just won't lock in place which is quite frustrating. Do I need to replace my crimping tool?

[prochlea]

sounds like you're smashing the tab a little bit. Are you using decent RJ45's? I've had cheap ones that do that. It could also be your crimper.

[waynehoskins]

As much as I'm generally an advocate of building your own cables, I've joined the school of buying patch cables. They're reasonably inexpensive, and they're generally more reliable (because they're mass-produced with more precision tooling than your hand crimper or mine).

A co-worker of mine tells the story of two Apple places being built at the same time in the '80s or '90s, one in Dallas and one in Houston. He was on the Dallas networking team, and they used prefab patch cables. The Houston team built their own patch cables to save money. In the following years of normal operation, Houston experienced patch cable failures while Dallas didn't. That's what changed my mind a couple of years ago.

As much a pain as Cat 6 termination is -- more than Cat 5, at least the stuff I worked with -- I wouldn't trust any Cat 6 I built. I'd trust the Cat 5, but not the Cat 6. If I were doing Cat 6, I'd buy prefab with no hesitation.

[petereit]

LOL! I'll pile on with the "don't build your own patch cable" theme. I just put a slightly more humorous "spin" on it.

Back in the 90's I worked for a multi-national corporation as a Professional Services Consultant. They billed my time to our customers at $175/hour.

So any time I was tempted to do something myself, I started asking, "Will I save $175/hour?" That's when I stopped doing my own oil changes, car maintenance, lawn mowing, sitting in front of the TV...

[cw4u]

I just ordered the cables I needed. Will start doing that from now on...

Still though, I might try to find another crimp tool and see if it works. I don't mind field termination but I agree that premade cables are both easier and work a lot better. I just had some cat6 left over in a spool so I thought I would use it.

[SamG269]

This has nothing to do with cat6 or 5 etc... Just regular mic cables. Found a snake that was well hidden the other day. Installed it in our church. Everything looked fine. Turns out a bunch of channels were oxidized. And didnt work... So... What do i need to fix them? Its Just the tips from what I can tell. That plug into the mixer.