Are 66 blocks able to pass data on? I have a cat5 cable terminated on a 66 block. There is no length left in the cable so instead of splicing I was wondering if I could just come off the 66 block and run to a patch panel. Will this work??

(cable cant be run again)

sounds like you don't have much choice so I would try it , it should work
most new Siemons blocks are cat5 rated , seems to me the issue is going to be how it was terminated
(was the twist kept tight to the pins or unwrapped )

I would prefer to pull it from the block ,terminate it to a jack and then use a long patch cord to the switch

You do punch them down different, it looks like it'd be a pain. My opinion is the making the punch opposite of each other would have little or no effect. I'm sure someone had a brain storm for the reason for doing it. Like Skip said they are CAT5 rated.

But not CAT5e. If it's only one cable though I wouldn't even worry about it.

Have you thought about putting a keystone jack on the end of it and pressing a plug on the end of a piece of cable and run that over to the patch panel?

-Hal

As reported above Siemon's 66 Blocks were rated Cat5 - but to get that you hd to keep the twist on the cable all the way, run the pair into the middle of the pins and turn the tip up and the ring down.

I would test it first. See if it works and what it tests out at.

Or do what Hal said. Tht might not be pretty, but it would work. Is there no slack in the ceiling that you could pull out? Or rerun to gain a few extra feet?

Sam

The Siemon S66M1-50 is Cat5e contrary to what was said above.
If you wanted to keep it "modular", you could get the TESTAR-8A-C5 and use a regular patch cord. That simply slides onto the pins of the 66 block.

Basically it is a house remodeled for business. The "phone closet" is in a small cubby above a counter. They pulled the cable up thru the wall out a hole and into the back of a 66 block. There isnt really any room at all to add in blocks and I would hate to see what it would look like with jacks as a coupling. Its only six cables so I guess that wouldnt be terrible. They are already on blocks so I was hoping it would work.

What about using a patch panel that fits a 66 block bracket? Do you have enough room to reterminate the cables?

Jeff's idea might work if you have the slack
allentel makes one that you can access for the side

Go ahead and do it. Looks like your hands are tied. Believe me, it'll work just fine. All they are going to use it for is internet anyway. Only a CG would worry about that block being there.

-Hal

Had about the same situation the weekend.
I put it on the 66 and all is well.
No problems at all.
Even tested at 1 GB.

I didn't think it would pass to 1GB but it's good to know.

Mike -

A top-shelf installation if it tested to 1GB!

This is good info.

Sam

Barbed wire fencing will pass if the distance is short enough and the insulation is done correctly.....

Check the archives for a thread that I started a few months ago about splicing Cat5e. I purchased IDC splice blocks for a few bucks each and was able to repair and extend many melted Cat5e runs in a house.

What I didnt tell you was there is voice cables from other parts of the building on the same block so switching out the block to a patch panel that would fit on a 66 mount wouldnt work. I did think about that. Good to know it passed at 1GB!!

Thanks guys!

"Only" a CG guy here: run your network at 10 MbS and you will have no trouble as 10BT was spec'd for CAT3. If all you have is one or 2 hosts, you should have no trouble at 10 or 100. You'll have a lot of NEXT but for such short runs it will not be a huge issue. You'll likely get a lot of dropped packets as you add hosts but you'd only know if you had an analyzer. Almost all home networks only share a common gateway and they don't push WAN traffic beyond 10 MbS typically. That may change soon as broadband matures but it won't affect your LAN.