Networking parts/accessories

[mrapoc]

Howdy ho

Figured I best get my own crimper, terminators, non snag butts and wire stripper

(butts and stripper in the same sentence!)

Looking on ebay...the crimpers look dubious and the terminators...well is there such a thing as cheap terminators (not the arnie type!)

And...well a wire stripper is always handy - used one at my old work i'd love to get where you stick the wire in a hole and spin it round and off comes the shielding! Man I want one of those!

Any ideas?

 

[hmmblah]

I like Paladin tools for crimpers strippers etc. They are pricey, but high quality. IIRC my crimper was like $90. I also have their punchdown tool, coax crimper and stripper tools. As far as ends and boots go, do you have something similar to Monoprice.com in your neck of the woods? Their stuff is really cheap and higher quality than more expensive gear I've used in the past. A bag of 50 cat6 RJ-45 ends with inserts is under $10. I believe they are US only. Honestly, I'd get small bags of different brands to test. Make a few cables with each and decide which ones you like best.

I personally hate boots so I never use them on custom cabling, but that's personal preference I guess.

 

[mrapoc]

I was looking on ebay really

I was looking for something similar to my draper ratchet crimper I have for normal wire crimping, but I need RJ45 - nothing too expensive mind, I won't be using it daily! Mainly for tidying up existing wiring in the house unless I honestly won't feel a difference in crimper as I suppose you don't need to squeeze as much as you do with bullet terminals for example.

So I could go for a budget crimper, RJ45 looks fairly standard everywhere, I ain't going with CAT6, I've read its a lot less forgiving in every aspect when making your own cable and holds no advantages for me over cat5e as far as I can see.

Hmmm, come to think of it I think work uses the cheapest cat5e cabling possible...lol

 

[hmmblah]

If you're running cables in your house, go cat6. It's not much more expensive, but down the road you will need it. Also, if you need 1 drop somewhere, run at least 2 lines. You can never have enough drops.

I used a cheap $20 crimper for years. If it's not something you're using every day that should be adequate.

Crimping cat6 really isn't that much different. The ends will have a plastic insert that you use and the cable will have a plastic divider inside that you need to cut, but the process is really the same.