Question Difference between 5e, 6 and 6a keystones?

[axlrose]

I finally got most of my cat6a cable hung today, and I have plates, but I don't have the keystones for either end of the cable still. I haven't had much luck finding cat6a keystones. If I'm looking for keystones for 6a, can I use 6 or 5e kestones or are they different? I want to get them plugged in now that I have the cables run.

Thanks.

 

[jsmithepa]

I would just use CAT6. The important thing is the cable.

 

[AllanGH]

https://www.fs.com/products/72285.html

 

[axlrose]

People seem to badmouth the tooless option. Have you used them? I've only done a few keystones now and they were punchdown types for 5e.

 

[AllanGH]

I have. You just have to be deliberate about installing them. I don't prefer them, but they do have their place.

I always double-test them before considering moving on to the next cable end.

 

[AllanGH]

....and, when a problem crops-up, I always tend to suspect the connections at the tool-less keystones.

If I had my way, I'd probably solder the suckers.

 

[axlrose]

Okay. Thinking of trying these then.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=302&cp_id=30204&cs_id=3020401&p_id=15664&seq=1&format=2

 

[kanewolf]

The quality of the keystones is less important than the discipline in using them. Keeping the untwisted cable to absolute minimums. You can have a 6a keystone but do poor termination practices and have trouble with 100Mbit connectivity.

 

[failboat]

It's easier to replace a keystone then the wire. This is the main reason it doesn't matter that much. Same reason to use cat5e patch cables. If you're not using 10G then it won't matter until you want to upgrade.

I bought these and they worked fine. Not sure why people gave them such bad reviews. I like how all the pairs are next to each other.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=24506

It takes a lot of pressure to punchdown 23awg. I can see why people broke a few.