0
I laid a direct buriable what I thought was high quality Cat 6 cable over about 200 feet, worked fine for a couple weeks then suddenly failed. When I attach the tester to each end, the lights barely light up dimly except for #5 which flashes bright. I have attached new connectors to each end twice now, four gold plug RJ45 wasted, same exact result.
I tested the two routers being connected with a 30' ethernet cable, worked fine, also tested the tester itself with this 30' cable, it flashes all 8 digits brightly and correctly.
Have examined the length of the cable there is no damage no cuts in it, and it's only a couple weeks old anyway. All I can think of is that there are a few bends around corners including a couple that are almost 90 degrees, could this over a two week period lead to failure? Bizarre.
CrYellow
Posted 2018-12-17T18:17:55.933
Reputation: 11
2A sharp bend is fatal for CAT5 / 5e / 6 / Coax cable... You need to be gentle with it! Can you provide photos? – Attie – 2018-12-17T18:25:01.677
The very best case is that crosstalk between the pairs becomes too high and the link fails, the worst case is that the conductor actually breaks (which is what sounds like happened for you). – Attie – 2018-12-17T18:25:54.540
4I don't know if this is the cause in your case, but a too-tight turn can break internal wires in an Ethernet cable. The fact that it's 90 degrees is less important than the "turning radius" or "bend radius", which the manufacturer should have published. If the cable moves or vibrates at all or is under tension, the internal wires can easily break. – Christopher Hostage – 2018-12-17T18:26:02.153
@CrYellow these comments are wrong. 90 degree or greater bends will not damage your cable. See my answer below. – Keltari – 2018-12-17T18:37:41.633
1@Keltari I don't know where you get that info, but obviously a 90+ degree bend goes beyond the minimum bend radius of Cat6. When a cable is bent beyond it's minimum bend radius, it can cause transmission failure, damage it, or shorten it's life. The minimum bend radius of Cat5e and Cat6 is about 1 inch. A few possibilities of the problem would be a kinked line, or the cable is stapled too hard. Tip: use velcro instead of staples. – DrZoo – 2018-12-17T18:53:40.113
How did you terminate the cable (punch down to sockets or connectors directly on the wire)? Did you have the correct test equipment (very expensive) that can properly run the cable through the category test suite? Most cable failures are due to installation. Even experienced installers can have problems with Category-6 and Category-6a. Exceeding the minimum bend radius (four times the cable diameter) or maximum pulling tension (25 lbs.) can permanently ruin the cable.
– Ron Maupin – 2018-12-17T18:57:07.197The cable worked fine for two weeks so I must have connected it properly. I used 1/4 coaxial staples like these https://www.homedepot.com/p/Gardner-Bender-1-4-in-6-mm-Polyethylene-Coaxial-Staple-Zinc-Plated-Nail-for-Wood-App-White-50-Pack-PSW-165/303631678?cm_mmc=Shopping%7CG%7CBase%7CD27E%7C27-11_TOOLS_%26_ACCESSORIES%7CNA%7CPLA%7c71700000034238984%7c58700003943782712%7c92700031954542194&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6JLjkcen3wIVgx-tBh25aAXHEAQYAyABEgKZefD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds what I can think of is that we had heavy rains here twice in past two weeks.
– CrYellow – 2018-12-17T19:04:54.563@DrZoo honestly, common knowledge. There is a great post on this site doing a physical Ethernet fable torture test. 90 & 180 degree turns, wrapping around a nail, being stapled, etc. The car worked fine. Additionally the OP said the cable has continuity on all wires. The problem is resistance. – Keltari – 2018-12-17T19:40:51.100
I don't see how bending would matter because if bending were an issue cable would have failed right off the bat, this failure after two weeks means that the cable somehow went bad. As Keltari knows further testing shows connectivity between only the two blue wire sets, there is no connectivity between the orange green brown wires when twisted together like this https://i.imgur.com/brxyCpU.jpg at one end, and tested for continuity at the other end with multitester.
– CrYellow – 2018-12-17T20:09:18.270@Keltari Again, going past the bend radius does not guarantee that you will not damage the cable or shorten it's lifespan. Torturing your cable by wrapping it around a nail, stapling it too hard, kinking it, etc is only increasing your chances of damaging the wires inside. Using a bit of cable care and common sense, will help reduce the chance that you'll have to make the run again. – DrZoo – 2018-12-17T20:10:57.390
@Keltari and everyone else I started pulling the cable and found that it had been chewed through at some point where laid flat on the ground whatever chewed through the outer split conduit and the cable itself apparently not enough to sever entirely but enough to cut all but the two blue wires, as I was pulling the cable it separately entirely. Wasn't separated before which is why I couldn't see the damage. https://i.imgur.com/YQo2YVe.jpg https://i.imgur.com/nfFJMvE.jpg https://i.imgur.com/HQR5gwB.jpg No joy in Mudville must think of a different route or conduit are hungry critters here.
– CrYellow – 2018-12-17T20:37:28.690Anyway, in a roundabout way this "proves" that bending is not an issue, but a chewed through cable definitely is! – CrYellow – 2018-12-17T20:52:53.860
Apparently, you misled everyone in your question: "Have examined the length of the cable there is no damage no cuts in it..." The comments are accurate in the context of the question. – Ron Maupin – 2018-12-17T21:23:54.343
I didn't mislead anyone, I did not observe anything at that time. You're a bit of a kook saying something like that. Obviously - you think I would have been spending all time time furiously conducting tests if I knew the cable had been eaten? --- And anyway, now the cable is reconnected and working fine, BENDS and all. So obviously bends are not an issue whatsoever. – CrYellow – 2018-12-18T19:17:16.957
I did not observe anything at that time and had spent time that night with a flashlight and again that morning observing the length of the cable, just didn't notice it yet because wasn't severed entirely hadn't come out of the split conduit. When I went to pull the cable, after conducting all these tests, it severed as I was pulling it and then I saw the split. "Mislead" implies intentional action, lol. Not the case here! If anything, I misled myself into a lot of unnecessary work. Still, BENDS are okay, @Keltari was right. – CrYellow – 2018-12-18T19:25:33.857