Simply45® is the industry leading brand for RJ45 modular plug innovation and performance solutions. Our RJ45 solutions are so innovative that we have patents filed on many of our products.
Simply45® offers several different versions of our Pass-Through RJ45 modular plugs. As such, we receive many questions regarding pass-through RJ45 modular plug selection. Some of these questions include:
– What Is The Difference Between Pass-Through and Non-Pass Through RJ45 Modular Plugs?
– Are Pass-Through RJ45 Modular Plugs Performance Specific?
– Are All Category LAN Cables The Same Amongst The Various Manufacturer Brands?
– Why Does Simply45 Have So Many Different Pass-Through RJ45 Modular Plugs?
– How Do I Know Which Simply45 Pass-Through RJ45 Modular Plugs To Use?
What Is The Difference Between a Pass-Through and Non-Pass-Through RJ45 Modular Plugs?
A non-pass through RJ45 modular plug is typically called a Standard RJ45 Modular Plug. The typical standard RJ45 modular plug is also referred to as a WE/SS 8P8C modular plug. The WE/SS refers to Western Electric/Stewart Stamping type. The 8P8C refers to 8 position 8 contact.
Pass-through RJ45 modular plugs are a variation of the Standard WE/SS 8P8C modular plug and can be used with standard RJ45 modular plug systems. The Pass-Through RJ45 modular plug allows the LAN cable wire conductors to pass completely through and out the front of the plug body. This allows the installer to easily verify the wire pattern alignment before terminating or crimping the plug. This feature can save termination time and eliminate many termination errors where one wire may be misaligned after termination.
Simply45® manufactures both Pass-Through RJ45 modular plugs and Standard WE/SS 8P8C RJ45 modular plugs. Simply45 has incorporated many of our ground-breaking features and innovations developed for the Pass-Through RJ45 modular plug series into our Standard RJ45 modular plug series.
The Simply45® founders and engineers have many years of development and experience working with both pass-through and standard RJ45 modular plugs.
Are Pass-Through RJ45 Modular Plugs Performance Specific?
It is important to understand that any RJ45 modular plug including pass-through RJ45 modular plug are not performance specific. The LAN cable itself determines the performance capability, not the RJ45 modular plug. However, a poorly made or poorly designed pass-through RJ45 modular plug can significantly lower the cable’s performance capability. That is why it is critically important that you only use high quality pass-through RJ45 modular plugs for all installations.
Are All Category LAN Cables The Same Amongst The Various Manufacturer Brands?
Category cables (also known as LAN cables or twisted pair data cables) are identified by specific industry performance standards set by ANSI/TIA and ISO/IEC. Cables labeled as Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a are supposed to meet their regulatory performance standards at 100m (328ft) lengths. Cable manufacturers have a lot of leeway in their cable construction to meet those performance standards. As such, a category LAN cable is labeled by its
performance capability more so than the cable construction.
In the real world, not all manufacturer cable brands meet the 100m regulatory performance standards. With the “race to the bottom” to offer less expensive LAN cables, many cable manufacturers lower their quality standards during actual production. Therefore, it is important to use good quality Category LAN cables for all installations.
Common construction differences amongst LAN cable manufacturers on unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables include:
a. Copper conductor diameter size,
b. Wire insulation material and thickness,
c. Cable jacket material and thickness, and
d. Size of the pair separator/center spline found in most Cat6/6a UTP cables.
These cable manufacturing differences must be accounted for by RJ45 modular plug manufacturers so that their RJ45 modular plugs properly fit the various LAN cable construction differences.
Why does Simply45® have so many different pass through RJ45 modular plugs?
Selecting the right Simply45® Pass-Through RJ45 Modular Plug for your LAN cable depends on two things:
1. Diameter of the wire conductors, and
2. Diameter of the LAN cable itself.
Wire Conductor Sizes. With pass-through RJ45 modular plugs, it is important for the separated wire pairs to pass-through the front of the plug with some friction or resistance. The slight wire tension, when pushed through the wire guide on the front of the plug, is important as it helps to securely hold the wires for better wire trims and pin sets. This tension prevents the wires from moving during the wire trim and pin set termination process. On the Simply45® pass-through modular plug labels, we provide a recommended wire conductor size range to help you select the right pass-through RJ45 mod plug to use.
Cable Diameter Sizes. Next, it is important to match the RJ45 modular plug internal design to the LAN cable diameter. The cable must be able to be fully inserted into the RJ45 mod plug:
- The inserted cable must not be too loose, otherwise, when the plug is crimped it will not hold the plug securely to the cable.
- If the plug cable entrance is too small the cable will not fit inside of the plug.
- The inserted cable must not be extremely tight to cause extreme pinching or excessive deformation of the cable. This extreme pinching can deform the wire pair lay-lengths and pair twists resulting in increased NEXT loss and FEXT loss, resulting in lower cable performance.
Multiple Plug Sizes Required. To accommodate the various LAN cable construction differences the pass-through RJ45 needs to come in a variety of sizes matched to LAN cable constructions. Simply45® tested numerous cable types and cable brands in order to develop the necessary sizes for our pass-through RJ45 series. This process re-engineered the pass-through RJ45 to include higher quality materials and internal design changes resulting in improved performance and ease of use.
How Do I Know Which Simply45® Pass-Through RJ45 Modular Plugs I Should Use?
Simply45® makes it very easy for you to select the correct pass-through RJ45 modular plug for your installation. Simply45® includes the following information:
1. We label each pass-through RJ45 plug with the primary LAN cable name/type that the plug is designed for. For example, our part S45-1500 indicates that this RJ45 is typically recommended for Cat5e unshielded (UTP) 24 AWG solid LAN cables.
2. On the labeling, we also include the recommended wire conductor diameter size range. This is important as the S45-1500 can be used for other LAN cable constructions as well. In this instance, the S45-1500 is recommended for stranded unshielded Cat6 and Cat5e with 28-26 AWG conductors. A metric equivalent is also provided.
3. A maximum LAN cable diameter is also provided. On the S45-1500 we indicate that this RJ45 plug is recommended for LAN cables with an overall diameter of up to 6.5mm (0.255”).
Simply45® provides you with all of the necessary information that you need both on our website and the product labeling to select the correct pass-through RJ45 modular plug based on the specific cable that you are using. This same information is also provided for shielded LAN cables.
Understanding the various types of LAN cable construction allows Simply45® to best match the correct pass-through RJ45 to your specific cable being used. Each plug type has different characteristics that best match the LAN cable constructions.
Simply45® then color-coded each pass-through RJ45 modular plug type to provide a clear visual reference for the installer. This way if several plugs are laying out, it is easy to identify which plug is which. Going further, we also color-coded the plastic jar packaging to match the same color-tinted plugs. Everything is designed as a system to help you improve your RJ45 termination processes.
