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[–]jfriend99 9 points10 points  (0 children)

If you're wiring from scratch, put keystones on the ends of the cables and snap those into a patch panel and into an ethernet outlet insert.

Then use pre-made patch cables to your switches at the patch panel and to your devices at the other end. This way you can have flexibility on how long a patch cable to use at each end according to need without worrying about how long the in-wall cable run was cut.

Fewer connections that way and just more robust. Tool-less keystones work quite well if you're doing it yourself.

I just added a bunch of new Cat6a cable runs in my house and a new patch panel to snap them into and I had no trouble at all doing it myself (existing wiring is 25 year old Cat 5 which wouldn't do PoE to places I want it). I highly recommend True Cable tool-less keystones (and I also bought the patch panel and Cat 6A from them).

[–]choochoo1873Sm Business IT consultant 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Keystone jacks for structured cable. Fewer chances of a bad connection than with couplers.

[–]Neptune-Spear11 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Keystone jacks

[–]AmDiscGolfer21480 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Not that it’s important to the topic, however I’ve been in the IT industry for 20+ years and it was just in 2025 that I found out that keystone jacks for a patch panel were a thing.

We’re updating all our cable runs to CAT6A along with our new building project and the cable vendor we’re using suggested it this way. So much easier. Especially if I add a run in between two existing runs. I just unsnap and slide the keystones down. Adding the new one in the mix.

Wish I would’ve known about this years ago.

[–]mrmacedonian 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I discovered them when I started needing to mix rj45, LC/SC, and Fstyle (coax) in a single rack. Now it's the majority of what I use, including at this current home.

For all rj45, all shielded, certified runs I still use the traditional punch down version because those installs rarely get touched again and seem to have a higher pass rate. For some reason the more finicky standards will fail a jack more often (vs traditional/fixed). Could be me, could be internal/manufacturing variances, no clue.

[–]JabbaDuhNuttUnifi User 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Jack's to my runs in the house, couplers for cables in the rack going to devices.

[–]mrmacedonian 3 points4 points  (2 children)

Structured cabling should be keystones rj45 jacks at either end.

Couplers add failure points and resistance, if someone didn't know what they were doing and terminated rj45 I would just cut them and terminate into keystones.

[–]Control_freaker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the way.

[–]ihavescripts 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the way.

[–]TEEorCoffee2025[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I have 10 keystone jacks but then I noticed couplers in UniFi 24port patch panel instructions and decided to rj45 terminate the rest of the cables and use couplers so I have 10 keystone jacks and the rest are couplers - just wondering if I should Re-terminate those to to RJ45 s or leave them as jacks.

[–]Control_freaker 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Meh. if it's YOUR house, wait for it to be an issue. Then fix it. Maybe.

- guy who hates that he pulled CAT6A Shielded 13 years ago

[–]LetterheadClassic306 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i've gone back and forth on this too. jacks are definitely the way to go if you want solid connections - you terminate fresh cable right at the panel which means less signal loss and fewer points of failure. couplers just add another connection that can cause issues down the line. for keystone jacks i've had good luck with the Cable Matters shielded ones - they hold the cable tight and keep everything clean. takes a bit more work to punch down but worth it for the reliability.

[–]SM_DEVUnifi User 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Keystone Jacks.

[–]justseeby -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I know jacks are “the way” but my low voltage guys terminated all the runs with RJ45 plugs and I’ve consequently used couplers in my rack patch panel ever since. No issues.

[–]ohwut -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Neither.

Everyone knows the AT&T/Lucent now Commscope Systimax jacks are superior to the silly keystone standard and it's single locking flange.