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I was wondering what the preferred method is for 'butt'splicing together two pieces of <100m UTP cable - or if that is discouraged in general.

Relaying the cable is not possible, but it does need to be redirected from a certain point on. I know that for other cables IDC gel crimps are useful, but they usually only seem to exist for up to four wires.

I can crimp some 8P8C ends on both sides and use a two-way block connector, but that hardly seems ideal.

Thanks so much in advance.

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  • Is this Solid or Stranded UTP?
    – nullmem
    May 8, 2014 at 23:07
  • @nullmem The cables in question are all stranded UTP cables.
    – Tjalling
    May 9, 2014 at 1:28
  • Isn't this the purpose of a patch panel?
    – generalnetworkerror
    May 9, 2014 at 9:32
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    Given that it's stranded then i'd suggest going with your initial idea of two plugs and a coupler. Punch down connections are only suitable for solid cable. Soldering and heatshrinking is possible but will create an impedance bump which may cause issues at higher speeds.
    – Peter Green
    Nov 2, 2015 at 4:12
  • If this is for data networking, stranded cable is unacceptable for horizontal cabling. It is restricted to the patch cables on each end, not to exceed a total of 10 meters. Also, splices are completely disallowed. Splices and couplers introduce non-twisted gaps and impedance mismatches. Such a cable will not pass a test suite for any recognized cable category above Category-3.
    – Ron Maupin ♦
    Oct 1, 2016 at 4:23

3 Answers 3

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Given your comment that it's that it's stranded then i'd suggest going with two plugs and a coupler. If you want to run high speeds then getting a coupler that is actually cat5e rated rather than a generic RJ45 coupler with no internal impedance control is probablly a good idea.

Punch down connections are only suitable for solid cable. Soldering and heatshrinking is possible but will create an impedance bump which may cause issues at higher speeds. The jelly connectors that telephone companies use will likely create an even bigger impedance bump than carefully applied solder/heatshrink and are also unisuitable for stranded cable.

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Whenever I need to cross-connect cables I tend to use a 110 block whenever possible. However, If you have no plans to patch more cables in that location you can use a CAT6 Junction Box. I have used this particular product and I can personally recommend it.

Also I prefer the use of Solid UTP over Stranded (mainly a preference from the old days installing T1's), it's just easier to work with. With that said Stranded will work just fine with more modern 110 style punch down gear such as the product I recommended.

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  • +1 on the CAT6 Junction Box if this is for only one cable. For multiple cables, I would use a patch panel.
    – AJ.
    Dec 1, 2016 at 2:13
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Generally discouraged for ethernet, but not unheard of.

I'd use the usual telco gel blocks (eg. Platinum Tools Telcom Gel-filled Splicing Connectors) or the "dolphin" crimps (Dolphin B Connectors with Sealant) If it's somewhere that a 66-block could be placed, that would also be doable.

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