Ethercon sockets

[revbobuk]

Folks - about to install a system which will have 5 runs of ethernet cable - two on Ethercon to communicate with Behringer X32 series stage boxes, one for an HDBaseT link to a projector, one doing VGA over Cat5, and one doing plain Ethernet. My researches indicate that HDBaseT needs shielded Cat6, so I was going to settle for Cat6 shielded cable for all the runs. But I'm a little confused by Neutrik. The NE8FDV chassis mount socket (which is fitted to the wallplates from CPC) says that it does not intermate with Cat6 cable connectors. And Neutrik seem to say that Cat6 and Cat6a aren't interchangeable when it comes to connectors either. What connectors will go into NE8FDV? Just Cat5? And if I use shielded Cat5 connectors with Cat6 cable, is the whole assembly then only rated to Cat5? Or what?

[Tom_M]

You could just use the EtherCON Cat6 P/N NE8FDY-C6 or if you want it in black NE8FDY-C6-B. These will fit any standard cut out for an XLR or Cat5 EtherCON. They are very easy to install (I just did about 100) and you can use them for cat 5 as well or even just plug in an rj45 terminated cable. If you use the cat5 connectorsthenyou can only reach. Cat5 spec on any cables. To reach cat6 you need to use cat6 connectors and cables on the entire run.

If you need any more assistance with these connector please pm me and ill get back to you on Tuesday as I have the week off from my normal day job in the IT/Satellite telecoms industry this week to sound op for a production of Carousel and there is a big lorry turning up on Monday that needs to be unloaded and the set built...........

Regards

Tom

Day job - Senior IT Solutions Architect

Charity job - Technical Manager

 

[chelgrian]

Folks - about to install a system which will have 5 runs of ethernet cable - two on Ethercon to communicate with Behringer X32 series stage boxes, one for an HDBaseT link to a projector, one doing VGA over Cat5, and one doing plain Ethernet. My researches indicate that HDBaseT needs shielded Cat6, so I was going to settle for Cat6 shielded cable for all the runs. But I'm a little confused by Neutrik. The NE8FDV chassis mount socket (which is fitted to the wallplates from CPC) says that it does not intermate with Cat6 cable connectors. And Neutrik seem to say that Cat6 and Cat6a aren't interchangeable when it comes to connectors either. What connectors will go into NE8FDV? Just Cat5? And if I use shielded Cat5 connectors with Cat6 cable, is the whole assembly then only rated to Cat5? Or what?

 

This is a very confusing area there are 3 lines of Neutrik connectors:

 

Cat 5e - Intermates with Cat 6A connectors

Cat 6 - Only mates with Cat 6 connectors

Cat 6A - Intermates with Cat 5 connectors

 

Despite its name Cat 6A cable is a much more recently defined standard than Cat 6 and is aimed at getting 10GBASE-T to 100 meters without special installation and testing.

 

I suspect every RJ45 manufactured these days is actually good enough for Cat 6A the difference is going to be if it is sold as a Cat 6A plug then it'll be warranted to work at Cat 6A and if it isn't it won't be. Cat 6A demands better crosstalk rejection in the connector than earlier standards so you are correct that if a Cat 6A cable is terminated with Cat 5 connectors then it's possible that the entire assembly won't pass Cat 6A qualification.

 

What is more difficult, even using suitable rated connectors and cables, is reliably terminating to pass Cat 6A qualification, it's generally easier to get someone who owns the relevant test gear to do it for you as even hiring a qualification tool such as a Fluke CableIQ can cost £100 a day.

 

Shielding is another rats nest. There are several different possible cable constructions see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shielded_twisted_pair#Cable_shielding. It's a myth that shielded cable is always better than unshielded cable. The first reason is that if the shield grounding at each end is improperly installed or if the shield is connected through the connector and there is an earth loop in the system anywhere then the resulting currents flowing through the shield will impair performance over not having it at all. The second reason is that if this is permanent install then some constructions only protect against interference from outside the cable rather than between different pairs in the same cable. In this case it doesn't gain you much over just having the cable in appropriate signal containment.

 

HDBaseT itself doesn't actually mandate shielded cable but some implementations seem to mandate it but it's entirely unclear if that is end to end through the connector on single cables or for installed cables with patch cords at each end as well.