EZ-RJ45 Worth the Expense?

sjackson

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I'm looking to start terminating cables (CAT6) installed during a house renovation and considering the EZ-RJ45 setup. They look great and will no doubt save me time, but the kit is expensive.

Cheapest I can find is (including shipping but not any duties):
RJ45 Crimping Tool - £41 (Platinum Tools 100004C EZ-RJ45 Cat 5/5e Cat6 Connector Crimp Tool | eBay
CAT6 RJ45 Plugs (100) - £46 (Platinum Tools 100010B 100-Pack EZ-RJ45 Cat 6-Plus Connector 899740000681 | eBay
Cat6 Boots (50) - £15 (Platinum Tools Red Strain Relief Connector Boot for EZ RJ45 CAT6 Pack of 50 | eBay

Is it worth the price? Looking at the above, it will cost £2 per cable to terminate. Crimping CAT6 cables is not something I do everyday but would do occasionally. I probably have around 30 to 40 cables to crimp for my HDMI extenders alone and that's not including any patch cables or internal cables going from my patch panel to devices in the cabinet.
 
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Do you have 30/40 RJ45 cables you are using for HDMI extenders, that's an awful lot of extenders ?

Cat6 isn't that hard to terminate just need a bit of practice, once you get the crimp tool all you need is the Cat6 ends/plugs at 40p each
 
Essentially I have all my kit in a cabinet under the stairs with multiple pairs of CAT6 going to potential TV points. So in the case of the main TV point in the sitting room, I have 4 pairs (8 cables) of CAT6 (bedrooms have 3 pairs, kitchen has 3 pairs etc). Basically I wanted to cover myself in case I had the budget to install multiple 1x4 HDMI to CAT5/6 splitters (1 for each of my video sources) so I wouldn't have to rely on a 4x4 matrix (ie. I wanted to take the matrix remote out of the loop for the wife's sake - I had a 4x2 and that confused her altogether). Hence all the cables if that makes sense......

The CAT6 is all solid core so I'm looking for RJ45 plugs that can work with that. I think I'll move away from the EZ-RJ45 due to expense and see if I can dig out some good quality CAT6 RJ45 plugs with guide bars (suitable for solid cable). They seem as rare as hens teeth from UK suppliers. A few from the USA on eBay but I expect shipping time could be quite long.
 
Wow, that a lot of extenders to remove one matrix remote, cheaper to get new wife !!

With 3/4 sources you still have 4/5 remotes and potential problems if any of the sources use the same IR codes.

A universal remote could solve the confusion
 
Wow, that a lot of extenders to remove one matrix remote, cheaper to get new wife !!

With 3/4 sources you still have 4/5 remotes and potential problems if any of the sources use the same IR codes.

A universal remote could solve the confusion

I would be a rich man if I could remove the wife........
 
Seriously , multiple extenders can be a problem with IR.
What are your sources ?
 
My thoughts were to run IR as a completely separate entity. I have an extra CAT6 cable going to all points so was going to get a Keene IR over CAT solution with a single high power blaster in the cabinet.

Sources: Sky, HTPC (XBMC), Dune HD, DVD, Amp, CD
 
So something like the Keene IR Commander Matrix ?

You would obviously still need a remote for every source and the TV in every room.

I would have though a matrix (with IR Routing) and a universal remote control would be easier (and cheaper).
 
EZ-RJ45 - some Extender manufacturers advise against using the EZ connectors!

Black Box - have RJ45 connectors with the guide bar.

Matrix Remote - I'm not sure if you can get any simpler than our 4-button Zone remote, the HD4xSTPMX Matrix knows which Zone you are in so you only have to select 1, 2 , 3 or 4 (see below)

Joe
 

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Thanks for that Joe. I'd never heard of Blackbox before so I have it bookmarked.

In the end I went for some "Cables Unlimited" CAT6 plugs apparently for solid wire. I'll see how they work and not exactly expensive if I have to dump them. Cables Unlimited UTP-7010-99 Cat6 2-Piece RJ45: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Joe: that remote looks good. I'll keep it in mind when looking at matrices
 
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I think the EZ range are more of a sell to us slightly more mature folk who find that their arms are not quite long enough to let them see the conductors clearly in a "normal" plug (especially when working in a dimly lit plant room) any more ;-)
It's not very practical having to carry a "third hand with magnifier and lamp" around when making off a few cable ends!
 
I've been using the EZ range for over 8 years. Saves you so much time that I won't use anything else.
 
First post! Whooo!

To be honest, I've just completed one room of 4 with cat5e wall plates and cable ends (6 ports). I don't see much advantage in using the cable guides as solid core cable is pretty easy to feed into the connectors! If using stranded cable its a bit more tricky and I use the guides then. The expense of the EZ system rules it out for myself as I see it as unnecessary.

Just my two penny's worth.
 
Sorry to resurrect an old thread but just to add to this discussion..
I recently installed a POE CCTV system at my property and it was the first time I had used crimps on RJ45.
I ordered a normal kit through Amazon and my first 6 terminations went well and all gave a pass on my meter.
Unfortunately the last 4 terminations all failed, maybe I was tired or the tool I was using didn't align properly but when crimping up at height I didn't really want to keep re-doing connections.. On closer inspection after cutting off the failed connectors it was apparent that some of the pins had become mangled..

So fast forward to 2 days ago and my EZ-PRO crimper was delivered along with 50 crimps and strain plugs..
My first termination which had previously been done with the cheap crimper only lit 7 of the testers LEDs (brown u/s) after several attempts..

Used my new EZ RJ setup and pulled through and checked & crimped and a perfect connection.. Have since redone all the terminations on my cctv system.

Yes they are expensive but for me they proved to be the perfect tool for the job with no messing around..
 
Just to add my comments....I bought some EZ-RJ45 connectors to try and they are brilliant. Much quicker for me. Used my standard crimping tool and worked a treat. Just trimmed to length with a hobby knife.
Connectors are quite pricey compared to standard ones but well worth it for the quality of termination and speed.
 

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