Cat 6 Terminations

[Dennis Alwon]

I noticed at the supply company that there are different ends for cat 6. Anyone know what the difference is in the jacks themselves? Physically they look the same but I did not measure it.

 

[GoldDigger]

I noticed at the supply company that there are different ends for cat 6. Anyone know what the difference is in the jacks themselves? Physically they look the same but I did not measure it.

There are several different standards in the data and phone communications field that apply to the 8-conductor modular jack.
One definite mechanical difference is the location of the locking tab/key, but I have not actually seen any in use other than the centered one outside telephone equipment.
However there are differences in which sets of wires from among the 8 are used as pairs. For twisted-pair cable like Cat 6, that usage must match the actual twists in the conductors or there will be reflection and cross talk problems.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Thank you. I also read that the connector is design for faster speed. This was posted at another forum by Bob

Are the connectors for category 5e and category 6 different? Why are they more expensive?

Although category 6 and category 5e connectors may look alike, category 6 connectors have much better transmission performance. For example, at 100 MHz, NEXT of a category 5e connector is 43 decibels (dB), while NEXT of a category 6 connector is 54 dB. This means that a cat6 connector couples about 1/12 of the power that a cat5e connector couples from one pair to another pair. Conversely, one can say that a category 6 connector is 12 times less ?noisy? compared to a category 5e connector. This vast improvement in performance was achieved with new technology, new processes, better materials and significant R&D resources, leading to higher costs for manufacturers.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

I wonder what makes these connectors different. Do you think they use a higher grade wire? or what. I am having a hard time thinking what could be different in them.

 

[GoldDigger]

I wonder what makes these connectors different. Do you think they use a higher grade wire? or what. I am having a hard time thinking what could be different in them.

The exact shape of the contact wires and the dielectric constant and shape of the plastic between them are very precisely calculated and controlled in production so that it does not create an impedance blip in the transmission line.

As an example, consider two sections of coax cable with the same characteristic impedance and different diameter center conductors. To make the inductance of the wire have the right balance to the capacitance from the center conductor to the shield, you have to also vary the thickness of the insulation, the dielectric factor of the insulation, or both.

If you try to splice the two types of cable together mechanically there will be an area of overlap of the electric and magnetic fields right at the transition which will show up on a TDR as an anomaly.

If, on the other hand, you use an adapter section which tapers the size of the center conductor and the thickness of the insulation over a distance of several inches, you will not see that lump change and the reflection will be reduced.

In real life, the connectors which are fastened onto the ends of the coax to terminate them make a transition from a particular design cable type to a common form factor for the connector interface.
For an F type connector, this is made more difficult since the center conductor of the cable is actually also the center conductor of the connector.

The optimized modular connectors work in a similar way to reduce the impedance lump which causes reflections.
It may also involve more expensive metal or plastic to hold the tighter tolerances, but that would not be a given. It is really the shape that is critical.
And, of course, a bad job of terminating the cable to the connector in the field could easily undo all of that effort.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

Thank you. I was thinking similar thoughts about the errors in installations of the connector.

 

[GoldDigger]

Thank you. I was thinking similar thoughts about the errors in installations of the connector.

There may be something about the enhanced design (cable capture, conductor retention, etc.) that make field errors less likely or less severe too. I have not looked at it in depth.

 

[RLyons]

Possibly the Cat6 wire ga. might have something to do with it.
If I recall Cat6 is 24-22ga.

 

[kwired]

Isn't cat 6 backward compatible with cat 5 or cat 5e? Meaning you can use cat 6 components on a system that is only operating at cat 5 standards.

To get the performance ability of cat 6 you need to use the cat 6 equipment and install correctly otherwise you still have something that may work but at a lower performance level.

You also need connected equipment on each end to have the cat 6 abilities or it doesn't matter anyway.

 

[Strathead]

The exact shape of the contact wires and the dielectric constant and shape of the plastic between them are very precisely calculated and controlled in production so that it does not create an impedance blip in the transmission line.

As an example, consider two sections of coax cable with the same characteristic impedance and different diameter center conductors. To make the inductance of the wire have the right balance to the capacitance from the center conductor to the shield, you have to also vary the thickness of the insulation, the dielectric factor of the insulation, or both.

If you try to splice the two types of cable together mechanically there will be an area of overlap of the electric and magnetic fields right at the transition which will show up on a TDR as an anomaly.

If, on the other hand, you use an adapter section which tapers the size of the center conductor and the thickness of the insulation over a distance of several inches, you will not see that lump change and the reflection will be reduced.

In real life, the connectors which are fastened onto the ends of the coax to terminate them make a transition from a particular design cable type to a common form factor for the connector interface.
For an F type connector, this is made more difficult since the center conductor of the cable is actually also the center conductor of the connector.

The optimized modular connectors work in a similar way to reduce the impedance lump which causes reflections.
It may also involve more expensive metal or plastic to hold the tighter tolerances, but that would not be a given. It is really the shape that is critical.
And, of course, a bad job of terminating the cable to the connector in the field could easily undo all of that effort.

You must have a lot of problems in RL (real life) This makes too much sense and is too easy to understand. I suppose next you will try to explain how electricity works by comparing it to water flow! Thanks.

 

[kwired]

You must have a lot of problems in RL (real life) This makes too much sense and is too easy to understand. I suppose next you will try to explain how electricity works by comparing it to water flow! Thanks.

Electricity works because of water flow - in a hydroelectric generation plant