DComTalk.com

I got a ticket to install a half dozen drops in a student computer lab,
under some raised floor. The lab jockies there had already pulled
several cables under the floor, and crimped RJs on the hub end and
punched down keystone jacks on the PC ends. They showed me the job, and
I just shook my head. The fools had used cat3 telephone cable for all
of the drops. Duh.

Anyway, I removed those dud cables so I had a half dozen cat5 keystone
jacks left over to use. So I got some AMP 110Connect series faceplates
and tried one of the keystones in a faceplate, but it just fell out.
Apparently, even tho they look the same, there's a big diff in the size
of the edges where things click onto. So I punched down the jacks and
left them for later when I get a proper faceplate.

So one the way home I stopped off at the Big Orange Box hardware store
and checked out the jacks they had in the electrical dept. I found a
line of Leviton jacks and faceplates that look identical to the AMP and
keystone jacks. But they could conform the AMP size, which means that
the jacks would fall out of the Levitons as well. Or the faceplates may
be the same size as the keystone jacks which would work just fine. Does
anyone know if the Levitons are keystone compatible? Thanks.

BTW, I certified these runs with my Fluke DSP-2000, and they all passed,
but with some of the narrowest NEXt margins I've ever seen. Some of
them passed with 2.2dB or 1.6dB margins, which is a lot poorer than I
usually get. I usually test Lucent/Avaya/Systimax jacks, and they
usually do 8 or better. I'm wondering if these cheap generic keystone
jacks are the cause of this marginal performance. The cable is cat5
plenum, and the patch panel is Lucent from 1995, which is usually a good
brand. The runs were only 50 some feet. Just curious. Thanks for any
help.


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BTW, I certified these runs with my Fluke DSP-2000, and they

Didja try it on those Cat3 cables?

all passed, but with some of the narrowest NEXt margins I've
ever seen. Some of them passed with 2.2dB or 1.6dB margins,
which is a lot poorer than I usually get. I usually test
Lucent/Avaya/Systimax jacks, and they usually do 8 or better.
I'm wondering if these cheap generic keystone jacks are
the cause of this marginal performance. The cable is cat5
plenum, and the patch panel is Lucent from 1995, which is
usually a good brand. The runs were only 50 some feet.

I'd be more suspicious of that old Lucent. Is it marked Cat5?
In 1995, NEXT wasn't much on the radar. Those old punchdowns
are more likely Cat3 and their PCB trace routing "untwisted".

-- Robert

Does anyone know if the Levitons are keystone compatible? Thanks.

Yes, Leviton QuickPorts are in actuality Keystone jacks.

--
Stan Kee (spamhoneypot@rogers.com)

I would definitely place the blame on the patch panel from 1995. Even if its not used it is more the a decade old.