To get Systimax jacks you’ll probably need to go to a trade shop like Graybar or Anixter. Actually, try Google first!

I tested the Fluke on another line that works fine and it comes back successful, so I think it’s working.

I tried to eyeball the run to make sure there are no kinks and I couldn’t see any, but there’s a few feet in a wall…

I replaced the connectors w/standard rj45 jacks w/o using anything sharp to do it. The Fluke still shows return loss failure. However, I was able to plug it into my router and use the line?!? Does that surprise anyone? It didn’t work previously.

Anyway, I think I’m back up and going for now, though still a bit confused.

As a side note, if I decide to try your Systimax suggestion, is that something I can get at any local electronics store (e.g. Bust Buy), or do I need to go to a specialty store for those?

Thanks again for all the help — you guys are great.

– Dave

In practice, the problem is usually a bad punchdown on one or both jacks, or bad jacks. Having return loss on just one pair suggests that that’s your problem. It could also be a kink or other flaw in the cable — let’s hope not, or you’ll have to re-pull the whole thing. Have you tried swapping the two units of the Fluke DSP from one end to the other? That may give you a clue as to the location of the problem(s).

Probably your best bet is to reterminate one or both ends. If reterminating doesn’t work, and you don’t think there are any flaws in the cable, try using Systimax jacks.

Also, make sure you’re building the jacks right. Strip the outer jacket off the cable carefully, using the pull string rather than anything with a blade — nicks on the conductors may cause return loss. Preserve the twist of each pair as you lay it into the jack, and leave as little wire exposed as possible; bring the outer jacket all the way up to the bottom of the jack, as far as you can. Fan out the pairs as evenly as possible (to avoid crosstalk errors).

It could also be that the Fluke itself is having problems — sometimes the test heads and their connections get glitchy. You don’t say whether you’ve run the Fluke on a known-good circuit; you might try that before spending too much time on the “bad” circuit.

I don’t think power cable crossing/running in parallel is an issue in your case; if you had more than one pair failing, I’d say you wrongly arranged the cables from different twisted pairs, but with only one failing I’d really listen to Labnuke99 and replace the RJ45-s.

According to my experience, power line crossing hardly could be an issue with LAN cabling, but LAN cabling running together with the power line for several meters readily could be (though, I have seen a NIC/switch port wasted on both ends of a LAN cable crossing – across the brick wall – a lightning-conductor…).

Good luck (with new RJ-s),

Petko

I just put on normal network ends, but I can try to replace them if you think that might be the issue.

What are the odds that the power cables are the issue? And if that’s it, are there any effective options to shield the network cable? Would it help if I put a piece of metal or plastic conduit around the network cable at those spots?

Thanks again for the help — I’m swimming in unfamiliar waters here…

– Dave