Cat6A Shielded cable run 70m no signal

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Zorg2000

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#290253 29-Oct-2021 20:06

So I am helping a friend out getting internet out to a garage 40m from the main house. After a bit of research we/I decided to use cat6A shielded cable. Total run inside shed is about 15m + 40m up to house + 15m up under house to switch. I ran the cable through the shed to outside and left the rest of the reel there while the shed was being lined. My friend arranged for directional drilling to install the cable pulled through conduit up to house (I wasn't present when this was done). I went back there today to terminate the connectors (decided to just use shielded Cat6 RJ45 connectors and plug straight in to the switch at one end and an AP at the other end) and when I hooked up my cable tester (cheap RJ45 LAN tester) I got nothing. I kind of figured if the connectors weren't terminated correctly I might get a couple of pairs to light up but nothing. It's about 70m so within the 100m maximum for the cable. I plugged it in to the switch and AP anyway just to check but no connection.

I am at a bit of a loss.

I cut a short 1m length of the cable and used the same style connectors to create a patch lead to test and it worked fine with the cable tester.

I have ordered some different connectors in the mean time with the little plastic smartfeed alignment module. https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETSRN690089/Shireen-Cat6-RJ45-Connectors-SmartFeed-CAT6-Shield

Is it possible my cheap 9V cable tester just doesn't have enough juice to push through the 70m?

The shielded cable is a lot thicker with insulation than regular ethernet cable so I don't think it would have been damaged to the point of no signal on any of the 8 wires.

Any suggestions much appreciated, cheers.

RunningMan

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#2803849 29-Oct-2021 20:15

Who pulled the cable through the conduit? Sounds like the cable may be cut somewhere.

gregmcc

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#2803850 29-Oct-2021 20:17

I would bet the cable has been damaged, arm yourself with a mulitmeter, twist all the cores together at one end go to the other and start testing, you should get at least something between the cores if the cable is intact, even if it is in the Kilo-ohms, if you get open circuit then it broken. there should be a similar reading between any 2 cores.

Zorg2000

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#2803869 29-Oct-2021 20:48

RunningMan:

Who pulled the cable through the conduit? Sounds like the cable may be cut somewhere.

They were professional directional drillers who do fiber installations so have all the proper kit, that being said it was a cashy on the weekend.

Zorg2000

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#2803875 29-Oct-2021 20:55

gregmcc:

I would bet the cable has been damaged, arm yourself with a mulitmeter, twist all the cores together at one end go to the other and start testing, you should get at least something between the cores if the cable is intact, even if it is in the Kilo-ohms, if you get open circuit then it broken. there should be a similar reading between any 2 cores.

Great idea, just the sort of advice I was after. I guess I'm just praying it isn't damaged as I used cable clips in the ceiling space in the garage that doesn't really have any access anymore so near impossible to pull another cable. I used the clips to route the cable because I was paranoid it would get damaged when they were lining the garage, not a great idea in hindsight.

dasimpsonsrule

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#2803903 29-Oct-2021 21:27

Best bet would be to get a network cable tester that can measure distance to fault. There are cheap ones on trademe and aliexpress for less than $100 these days

Jase2985

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#2804515 30-Oct-2021 22:57

or find someone who has access to a fluke DTX or similar.

My cable at home is 186ft (56m) and has a 7.7ohm resistance

chevrolux

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#2804547 31-Oct-2021 09:04

I would use my toner to test each pair and make sure they actually have continuity.

Using a multimeter on the continuity setting would do the same. Just twist each pair together at one end and see if you get continuity across each one.

If not, broken cable. Pull it again. Fwiw, cat6a is a bit of a waste of time unless you want to do 10Gbps.

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Zorg2000

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#2804554 31-Oct-2021 09:18

dasimpsonsrule:

Best bet would be to get a network cable tester that can measure distance to fault. There are cheap ones on trademe and aliexpress for less than $100 these days

I have had a quick look and I'm assuming I need one with TDR? The ones on trade me that are 'local' mostly appear to 'ship from our china warehouse' 2-6 weeks and aren't that cheap. I think I'll see if I can borrow one from a mate.

Jase2985:

or find someone who has access to a fluke DTX or similar.

My cable at home is 186ft (56m) and has a 7.7ohm resistance

Thanks. I have a few sparky mates in different industries so hopefully one of them has something I can borrow, good kit definitely isn't cheap. Cheers.

toejam316

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#2804557 31-Oct-2021 09:33

If you know a Copper Chorus tech, they can definitely use their meter's TDR function to identify roughly where the cut is within a few minutes. Given what you've said, I suspect that unfortunately you're going to need to pull a new cable through. Possible option would be to do an external joint in a weatherproof box outside the house and/or garage to prevent having to redo the internal sections.

Anything I say is the ramblings of an ill informed, opinionated so-and-so, and not representative of any of my past, present or future employers, and is also probably best disregarded.

Zorg2000

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#2804567 31-Oct-2021 09:53

chevrolux: I would use my toner to test each pair and make sure they actually have continuity.

Using a multimeter on the continuity setting would do the same. Just twist each pair together at one end and see if you get continuity across each one.

If not, broken cable. Pull it again. Fwiw, cat6a is a bit of a waste of time unless you want to do 10Gbps.

Thanks for he advice, I have a half decent multimeter so this will be my first port of call I think. I'll cut the connectors and twist each pair together at one end to test. Hopefully it's not broken at which I can attach the new connectors and (if there is still a fault) maybe test again with some better kit to find the distance to fault.

As far as choosing cat6A I was a little worried about running it underground for that distance and we were tossing up about where to route it and if to use conduit or not based on where we were going to run it above ground or underground etc. I was short on time so made the call to go cat6A with the extra shielding not really appreciating how much harder it would be to work with. Years ago I retrofitted my own house with cat5e multiple runs to pretty much every room in the house and no issues pulling cable through walls, ceiling space and under the house. Every connection I terminated worked first time no issues. A case of overestimating my abilities I think because when it didn't work this time and my tester didn't work I was thinking shit what do I do now, I really don't want to have to pull a whole new cable. On the plus side if it is broken I can at least say it wasn't me. Cheers

Zorg2000

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#2804600 31-Oct-2021 11:25

toejam316:

If you know a Copper Chorus tech, they can definitely use their meter's TDR function to identify roughly where the cut is within a few minutes. Given what you've said, I suspect that unfortunately you're going to need to pull a new cable through. Possible option would be to do an external joint in a weatherproof box outside the house and/or garage to prevent having to redo the internal sections.

Thanks, in the case of a broken cable it would definitely help to know where its broken and I like the idea of an external joint in a weatherproof box outside the house and/or garage to prevent having to redo the internal sections. I still have the rest of the roll of cable (approx 220m). The house end is relatively simple as there is access under the house, it's the garage end I'm more worried about. It goes in at one corner, up the wall, across the ceiling (cable clipped), along the side of the top plate and back down to ground level. Another idea I had was to pull a couple of sheets of the roofing iron back to gain access to the ceiling space of the garage if need be. A lot would depend on where the break is. Cheers

Zorg2000

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#2806285 2-Nov-2021 15:11

Update. Sparky tested for continuity with the connectors on and got a reading. He (Sparky) had a couple of spare rj connectors but with the smartfeed insert. I replaced 1 of the connectors then tested again (with my cheap rj45 tester) and it all works. Connected it up to the switch at the house and AP in garage. Internet connection is good.

I'm thinking when the shielded connectors with the smartfeed insert finally arrive I'll swap them both over but in the mean time it's working fine, I'm stoked it's not a broken cable.

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions everyone, Cheers!