When installing the internet connection for mMa I needed a very long ethernet crossover cable (> 40 m) but couldn’t find one. I didn’t want the hassle of wiring one up myself so I decided to get a standard CAT5e patch lead and use an inline connector to join it to the short crossover cable I already had lying around. I went to Jaycar (my local electronics stomping ground) and found a CAT5e coupler for AU$19.95
What?! How can that be? I’ll admit the plastic was nice, but 20 bucks, that’s insane!
While I was wondering what to do I noticed a phone line connector with RJ45 sockets for AU$3.95 (Cat.# YT-6080).
This is a straight through connector, like the CAT5 version (pin 1 wired to pin 1), and although there’s a note in the Jaycar catalogue saying “Not CAT5”, I decided to give it a try. And it worked.
I’m not sure about signal loss but I had no problems with this in a 50m cable run. So, if you need a CAT5 inline joiner, save your money and get the phone connector instead.
One Comment