CAT6A Shielded Data Network Termination Tool Kit

This is everything a Cat6A shielded termination job needs in one hard-shell case: a stripper for the thicker shielded jacket, a ratcheting crimper made for Cat6A shielded RJ45 plugs, a tester to prove the cable before it goes live, forty shielded Cat6A plugs with an external ground tab, and forty oversized boots to fit over them. Shielded Cat6A is the cable that punishes an unmatched toolset, with a larger diameter, a foil or braid that has to be bonded at the plug, and plugs with a metal shell that an ordinary crimper can't seat; this kit is built around those plugs, so the crimper, the plugs, and the boots agree with each other from the first termination. It works on shielded Cat6A bulk cable in CM, CMR, or CMP, for voice, data, video, and security runs alike, and the plugs and boots come in small refillable containers so the case stays organized after the first forty are gone.

What's in the Kit

• Adjustable cable stripper and cutter. Compact and lightweight, with a spring-loaded cutting action, a self-adjusting cable holder, and a durable blade that strip the jacket on Cat6A shielded bulk cable cleanly, and a large finger loop to spin the tool around the cable for an even cut.
• Ratcheting crimp tool. Built for Cat6A shielded RJ45 modular plugs: a straight-action ratcheting mechanism seats the plug with the same crimp every time, and the ratchet holds until the cycle is complete. Molded rubber grips for a day of terminations, and a built-in cutter and stripper.
• Network cable tester. Main and remote units check UTP and STP cable through RJ45 connectors for continuity, open circuits, shorts, miswires, reversals, and split pairs, with wiring maps for T568A and T568B, 10BASE-T, and Token Ring, and a debug mode that isolates a specific wiring fault.
• Forty Cat6A shielded RJ45 plugs. Shielded modular plugs with an external ground tab that bonds the cable's shield to the plug body, so the shield is continuous from jack to jack.
• Forty oversized slip-on strain relief boots. Sized for the larger Cat6A plug and cable, with a snag-free profile that slides through racks and wall plates; they relieve the pull at the connection point and protect a custom patch cord from strain and disconnection.
• Hard-shell carrying case. Durable plastic with dual locking hinges, with the plugs and boots in refillable containers inside, so everything stays sorted between jobs.

Where It Fits

It suits installers building shielded Cat6A patch cords and field terminations in data centers and server rooms, 10GBASE-T runs where the spec calls for shielded cable end to end, industrial and healthcare sites with the electrical noise that makes shielding worthwhile, IT staff who terminate the occasional shielded drop and need a kit that's complete when they open it, and anyone who has tried to crimp a shielded Cat6A plug with a standard crimper and wants the matched set instead.

Good to Know

Shielded termination is a two-part job: the pairs go in the plug the same as any RJ45, and then the shield has to be bonded. Strip the jacket, fold the foil or braid and drain wire back over the jacket, seat the pairs and crimp, then fold the plug's external ground tab down onto the shield so it makes firm metal-to-metal contact; a plug with the tab left open is an unshielded termination with extra parts. The shield is only useful when it's grounded, and it should be grounded at one end, normally at the patch panel in the rack, so make sure the jacks and panels on the other end of these cords are shielded too, or the shield has nowhere to go. Slide the boot onto the cable before you crimp the plug, not after; it's the step everyone forgets once. Cat6A conductors are thicker than Cat6, and the plugs in this kit are sized for the cable; a plug from an unshielded Cat6 kit won't take the shell or the conductor. Check that the plug face is flush after each crimp. The tester proves the wiring, not the bandwidth: a pass means the pairs are connected and in the right order, and it checks STP for conductor faults, not for shield continuity; a certifier is the tool for a 10 Gb guarantee. Test with the remote at the far end and read both units; on a split pair the map can look right and the debug mode is what catches it. Keep the stripper's blade depth set for the cable in hand, and score and flex on a thick jacket rather than forcing the cut, since a blade that nicks the foil can short it to a pair.

Specifications

Usually ships the same day.