Cat6 Shielded Keystone Coupler, Snap-In (COU6-SHD)

A shielded Cat6 run is only shielded as far as the shield is continuous, and an unshielded coupler in the middle of it is a gap the noise walks through. This shielded Cat6 keystone coupler closes that gap: a female-to-female RJ45 in a full metal case that carries the shield from one cable's plug to the other's, so two F/UTP patch cords or RJ45-terminated cables join straight through, pin for pin, with the EMI protection intact. It snaps into any standard keystone opening in a WP2-series wall plate or a high-density patch panel, holds there with a latch, and extends a patch cord with no termination. Inside, the contacts are phosphor bronze plated gold over nickel on an FR4 PCB, the housing is black UL 94V-0 ABS inside the metal shell, and the slim 14.6 mm body fits a crowded panel. Rated to Cat6 and channel compliant to ANSI/TIA-568 and ISO/IEC 11801 Class E, and wired for T568A and T568B alike. For unshielded cable, the COU6-90 is the UTP version in five colors.

Features

• Full metal shielded case. Carries the shield through the coupler for EMI protection on F/UTP runs.
• Cat6 performance. Channel compliant to ANSI/TIA-568-B.2-1 and ISO/IEC 11801 Class E.
• RJ45 female to female, straight through. Eight conductors, T568A and T568B compatible, no termination needed.
• Snaps into a keystone opening. Fits WP2-series wall plates and high-density patch panels, with a latch.
• Gold over nickel contacts. Phosphor bronze on an FR4 UL 94V-0 PCB.
• Slim form factor. 14.6 mm wide for high-density installations.
• Black ABS housing, UL 94V-0.

Where It Fits

It suits structured cabling installers passing a shielded Cat6 drop through a wall plate to a shielded patch cord on the other side, industrial and plant networks where F/UTP is specified for the noise from drives and motors, data center and lab techs joining two shielded cables through a panel without breaking the shield, AV and broadcast rooms running shielded cable past lighting dimmers and power, hospital and clinical networks that spec shielded cabling throughout, anyone who has extended a shielded run through an unshielded coupler and wondered why the errors started there, and a patch field that carries both shielded and unshielded ports. It takes the same keystone opening as the Cat6 jacks and blanks in the wall plate collection; the shielded Cat6 patch cords it joins are in the copper patch cord collection, and the COU6-90 is the unshielded coupler for UTP runs.

Good to Know

Use it on shielded cable and shielded patch cords; its job is to carry the shield from one plug to the other, which only happens when both plugs are shielded and make contact with the metal case, and a shielded coupler on unshielded cords is just a coupler. A shield has to be grounded at one end of the channel to do anything, usually at the patch panel, so make sure the run it's in is bonded there. A coupler adds a connection to the channel, and a Cat6 channel is allowed four connections across 100 m, so count the coupler against that budget on a long run; two patch cords through a coupler is fine, a coupler in the middle of a permanent link is where it starts to cost headroom. T568A or T568B doesn't matter to the coupler, which is straight through, but it does matter that both cables use the same one. Snap it into the plate from the back until the latch clicks, and push each plug in until its latch seats; a plug that's half in is the usual cause of a link light that won't come up through a coupler. The metal case is also what makes this one slightly tighter in a plate than the plastic UTP coupler, so seat it square. Keep it indoors and out of the weather; it's a data connector, not an outdoor one.

Specifications

Usually ships the same day.