Do you need a special connector like an RJ45 for Flat Cat8?
Do you need a special connector like an RJ45 for Flat Cat8?
Hey everyone, here is a quick question I can't find an answer for on Google. My small home office gets a very slow internet from the router, which only gives me about 15% of my max speed of 1000mb/s. To fix this, I bought a Cat8 cable and ran it through some wall gaps or holes to reach my desk. Instead of drilling holes all the way out, I cut off the old RJ45 plug from one end so I can just screw on a new one later once the cable is in place. Before putting the plug back on, I tested the wire inside the tube and it worked fine; I got full 1000mb/s right then. Now the issue is that no matter what I try to put the plug back, it won't connect at all. It feels like I've messed up because Cat8 wires are really tiny and tricky. Soon I'm getting some special adapters that will help me check things clearly, but before doing that, I want to know if a regular RJ45 plug works fine with Cat8? The plugs and the colors look exactly the same as what's used for Cat 5 or 6 cables; it looks like there isn't any difference. It just feels like the wires are a bit thinner inside, so I'm not sure if they need a special adapter to make sure they actually plug in properly. Hope that makes sense? Cheers, Ori
You really need an actual ethernet cable. Getting one from places like Amazon or eBay is almost impossible because they rarely sell those cables, and when they do, they cost way too much. Those fancy "cat8" cables are only used in big data centers for very fast speeds over 40mbit. Regular flat cables don't count as ethernet cables at all; they just look like wires with RJ45 ends that might work by accident. You also need non-standard RJ45 plugs, which is nearly impossible to find. For regular gigabit speeds (1Gbit), cat5e cable is enough, but if you want more speed, you'd need a faster option. All these cables must have pure copper wires without any cross-linked material and must be the right thickness, around 22 to 24 AWG. Flat cables use thinner wire that seems too small for what they're supposed to do. I haven't even seen anyone make plugs or ends for flat cables before. There are a few exceptions where you can connect flat cable used in old PBX phone systems, but the wires still need to be standard size 22-24 AWG. Even then, it's risky because those flat cables aren't built to any official standards, so they might not work with ends from other brands or even the right ones. That's why there are cable standards to make sure everything fits together properly. Unfortunately, Amazon lets these fake cables sell on their site too, and they even manufacture some of them. They are very strict about selling counterfeit bags but let other fakes slip through. It is really bad when industry groups that certify cables don't have a company big enough to sue for selling fake products.
Thanks so much for your help! Honestly, I thought this wasn't even "real" CAT8 stuff because when I was looking for the right connectors, they just felt way too heavy and expensive. I did test it before cutting the end off though, and it still worked at full speed like I wanted. So I figured, okay no worries, cut one end off, run the cable through my walls, and attach a new RJ45 to the other side after that's done. But nothing happens there yet. It feels really messy and hard to figure out when I try it, so there is a big chance that the wires aren't in the right spots. That's why I'm getting some extra pass-through connectors soon just to check where the wires actually end up. Here are some pictures of the cuts I made from before. From what I can see, they look like most other cables I've tried out before. And there are some online videos showing people attaching an RJ45 connector to similar-looking cables with those small extra wires. So, based on that, it should work fine enough... but still nothing yet
Your problem is printed on the cable. Unless you have some ends rated for 30 awg wire, it won't work. Thirty awg wires are less than half the diameter of the standard cable. The small copper connectors inside the RJ45 jack cut through the insulation to make contact with the wire inside. They are designed very precisely and will not cut deeper than the diameter of twenty-four gauge wire so as not to cut the copper wire itself, but fully cut the insulation. In most cases with 30awg wire, the diameter of the wire and the insulation together is likely still smaller than a twenty-four gauge wire. So when you use standard ends on this thin wire they won't cut through the insulation or make contact with the copper wire. Like I said I have never found these ends. You also need ones that crimp flat cable. The ones that round do not go tight enough to prevent the cable from being pulled out of the RJ45 end if you accidentally tug on it a bit.
Well, that actually makes a lot of sense! So it really all boils down to me getting this flat cable instead of making big holes in my place. It's not my apartment, so I wanted it easier to fix the little holes I make when I leave, but I could probably get some standard round cable through there with minimal extra damage now. Thanks again for the help; should have come here first, but I guess I would never have known. Cheers
Yeah, true. Even though I've already dug some holes in wooden doorframes, they are harder to cover up. One more thing: I see some CAT7 cables that say they are AWG 33. Would that work with my existing CAT6 AWG 24 connectors, or do I need new ones? Since I have a bunch of CAT6 RJ45 connectors in a bag, it would be easier if I could just use those instead!
Well, no worries there. But hey, it's finally working! The passthrough RJ45 plugs were here, so I thought I'd try the 30AWG flat wire anyway. After one failed attempt (wired back to front), the second try looks like a win! Did a quick speed test and on WiFi I was getting 250-300mbps. Now I'm hitting 970mb/s back and forth. So guess the connections actually made contact when I crimped them? Pretty happy because I don't need to rewire everything around the house anymore, so I won't touch anything else and I'll call it a job done for now 😀
Be careful not to move it around much because it might disconnect suddenly. The so called Cat7 cable you see on a list is fake. Any cable with wire thinner than AWG 24 (a bigger number) automatically makes it a fake ethernet cable. Even Cat7 cables that have real wires aren't worth buying. The Cat7 standard was never finished and doesn't give any more benefit over Cat6A, which is rated for 10 gigabits over 100 meters. This comes down to the dumb consumer who thinks bigger numbers are always better when most home ethernet users only need something simple like Cat5E.