Cable Matters [UL Listed] 25-Pack 10Gbps Cat6 Keystone Jacks, White

So I got these needing some ports quickly for Cat6 not 6a as these are not for 6a, and honestly for the price they are great. I can get great signal, and they work very well. For a simple item they are good to go, anyone talking about weak plastics is probably not too great or familiar with punch down tools. The pictures I saw was a bit off putting, as the wires were just kind of crammed in there. Using a proper punchdown tool I had no issues, I even took a single port and punched down over 30 wires to map and label the wires. Using just 2 pair Green and white green I punched down, had my remotes plugged in at the wall and sat in the server room and just punched and re-punched, by the end of about 32 wires I did notice the weakened state of the port, but honestly they should be a single use, punch down and then done. However for fun I punched the same one down all the way and tested, received full signal and 1Gbps throughput on the port. Lesson is simple, make sure you know what you are doing before writing a review about a product that simply, is a basic item that is considered disposables to most of us in the industry. Also make sure to use a dedicated and good quality punch down tool with the razor end option to snip the remaining wires off of the sides. Unlike 66 or 110 blocks use a low strength setting on the punch down tool and being that the product itself and type of item it is, the insulated jacket is all the metal teeth are trying to get through, so having them bite into the copper itself is actually a bad thing, so having them a bit less on bite is much better as you want connectivity not signal loss, which would happen if the item bit into the actual copper wire. Also note that they are for Cat6 NOT 6a so when working make sure you use the right tool for the job, otherwise reviews of poor quality pop up. Overall I have used probably over a 100 of these now in industrial settings and have zero issue and they have replaced several Leviton versions that were badly installed by a not so skilled worker.

Keystone works as expected. The holder tool was ok but not great for the orientation I needed. Still, nice enough to have in the package.

Everything about this set is fantastic. I installed jacks on six different cables today and using my Klein cable tester, every connection was perfect. The punch down stand is a wonderful addition. I used 2" painters tape to secure it to the counter and painters tape on the cable itself to hold it in place. I would highly recommend if you don't already have it a 110 punchdown tool. It was quite easy to maintain the twisted pairs to within a few millimeters of their punch down positions. From now on I am going to use these even on the normally male RJ45 end and then a short patch cord similar to using a patch panel. These take a fraction of the time a RJ45 does and RJ45's have a high failure rate. These don't. Another great Cable Matters product.

Easy to configure and works well

I bought this pack while rewiring my house and adding in media connections. Overall these are an excellent keystones for making CAT6 connections. The labeling on the side is easily visible and very clear making for easy connections. I think the price is just right too at about $1 each compared to coax and HDMI keystones that can run $5-8 each! The small plastic cover plates they included, intended to protect the wires after installation, are a prime example of a half baked after-thought. They are poor fitting and too flimsy to be worth using. This however is a small nag because the important part is the keystone connector itself and that is a quality part. Instead, I used electrical tape, rolled in reverse to the adhesive doesn't get all over the keystone and the wires but still keeps dust out. Its a nice addition that they now include the punch down holder...when I purchased this was not included. It can be a bit tricky to hold the keystone firmly while trying to use a punch down tool, so hopefully the included holder helps there. (UPDATE: 9/8/2015) It appears that the small plastic terminal cover has been changed to an updated design. I have not used this new version yet, but from the pictures it seems like it might be more robust. I am not changing my rating as personally I cant say if it is or is not better. However, to be fair I wanted to update my review and mention it is now different from the version I hated. Here are the supplies I used to built my media infrastructure: Keystone plates = http://amzn.com/B006IKGHVC and http://amzn.com/B006IKHAZY Blank Keystone = http://amzn.com/B006IKH0EA Keystone Mounting Bracket = http://amzn.com/B003JQL0S8 Cat6 Keystone = http://amzn.com/B004D5PFGW HDMI Keystone = http://amzn.com/B0039L3P86 Coax Keystone = http://amzn.com/B003099HOI Cat6 Cable = http://amzn.com/B0049KV52E Coax Cable = http://amzn.com/B0069F4H3G Coax Right Angle Adapters = http://amzn.com/B00DUW3Y7G Wall Mounted patch panel = http://amzn.com/B000HZES42 Cat6 Crimp connectors = http://amzn.com/B00BS92DCA Strain Relief Boots = http://amzn.com/B000I20B86 Crimp Tool = http://amzn.com/B0000AZK4G Punch Down Tool = http://amzn.com/B0072K1QHM Coax Crimp Tools = http://amzn.com/B003J7YOTO

I've terminated a lot of jacks and these are no different, however I do like the hand jig that came with these jacks to better secure them when terminating. As far as CAT 6 performance goes, I no longer have access to my FLUKE tester meter, since retiring, to do a link test, but mine work well for my POE full 4K cameras.

Bought Trendnet, awful cheap thin pale plastic. weak tool-less design. Bought VCE, Same terrible quality plastic, weak and bent pins. Bought these. for ~$10 more, the plastic is much better and has a smoother finish and better color. the pins are sturdy and consistently spaced. Best value data jack by far. As for the mismarked labels. i haven't had any in my set, im sure that was a particular batch that has been addressed but if you DO come across them, simply pay attention to the NUMBERS for 568B. Ow=1 O=2 Gw=3 G=6 the pin numbers are not wrong. only the Letters "a" and "b" are wrong. match your pair numbers up with the jack numbers and all is well in the world. Again this issues seems to have been fixed with newer batches.

Excellent keystone jacks. They were easy to install and worked exactly as expected. I would highly recommend.

The little black base it provides is quite annoying to snap the things into and get them out of it, but other than that they all worked just fine and felt pretty high quality.

Very easy to wire up with cat6e

No issues installing CAT6 23 AWG cable using a Krone tool.

For the last 14+ years I've bought all my Keystone jacks from Monoprice. They were always excellent, and then about a month or so ago I noticed they changed the design of their Keystone jacks and went away with the kind they've sold for years. I searched far and wide for Keystone jacks that were the same or at least near identical to the older Monoprice ones and THESE Cable Matters ones were (and probably are) near identical to them. The ONLY difference I've found is these ones don't have the small cord relief "ladder" on the back end of the jack to tie the ethernet cord to if you so desire. They don't come in as many colors as the Monoprice ones, but they seem identical in look, feel, and quality. I couldn't tell the difference when I was installing a bunch of them earlier today. Best of all, they are a LOT less expensive than the Monoprice ones if you get them in the 25-pack, or even cheaper if you get the 50-pack. AND they fit the TRENDnet 24-port CAT6 RJ45 Patch Panel that is sold here on Amazon.ca as well. The 3rd photo shows that panel fully populated with these Cable Matters Keystone jacks and they fit perfectly as well!! The first photo is a side-by-side comparison to the older style Monoprice ones (notice the cord relief "ladder" on the right). The second photo shows the front and although they look a bit different it's only because the one with the "ladder" on the back won't lay flat on the table so it's tilted forward in the photo, but other than the "ladder" they seem identical in every way. Cable Matter Keystone jacks will now become my go-to jack moving forward. They only seem to come in White, Black and Blue, but hopefully in the future they'll add some other colors, but for now, I'm super happy with these and especially the price if you buy them in the 25 or 50 pack.

Individual packets. Easy to crimp. Fit into existing wall plates.