Blackmagic Forum

Hello. Why is a Cat6 cable with 6 wires on the ends unable to connect my Atem Mini pro with my PC running Atem Software Control and also unable to connect to the internet from the isp modem directly to the Atem Mini Pro?

I was able to make it work by having the Cat6 cable with only 4 wires on the ends. Is there a problem with the Atem or is it with the cable?

Thank you in advance for any of your replies and help.

First thing if you are using CAT 6 make sure the RJ45 connectors are for CAT6. I have run into issues where I picked up a CAT5 RJ45 connector and put it on CAT6 Cable accidently and I had shorts when I tested the cable.

It looks like you wired the end with the boot correctly based on the picture. Have you tried a known good cable?

smfichera wrote:First thing if you are using CAT 6 make sure the RJ45 connectors are for CAT6. I have run into issues where I picked up a CAT5 RJ45 connector and put it on CAT6 Cable accidently and I had shorts when I tested the cable.

It looks like you wired the end with the boot correctly based on the picture. Have you tried a known good cable?

I have not verified if the RJ45 connectors are for Cat6 and have not tried known good cables yet. I’ll try these solutions and hopefully everything works out. Greatly appreciate your help. Thank you!

I use the same RJ45 connectors for both Cat 5 and Cat 6 all the time. Clearly a wiring issue.

The OP should be using all 4 pairs to make it easier to put the connector on.

Best,

David

smfichera wrote:First thing if you are using CAT 6 make sure the RJ45 connectors are for CAT6. I have run into issues where I picked up a CAT5 RJ45 connector and put it on CAT6 Cable accidently and I had shorts when I tested the cable.

It looks like you wired the end with the boot correctly based on the picture. Have you tried a known good cable?

David_Anderson wrote:I use the same RJ45 connectors for both Cat 5 and Cat 6 all the time. Clearly a wiring issue.

The OP should be using all 4 pairs to make it easier to put the connector on.

Best,
David

you have not understood the difference between CAT5 and CAT6.

If you cut off the plugs on a CAT6 cable and install CAT5 plugs, it is a CAT5 cable at the end.
the difference is made by the shielding of the individual pairs, but also the overall shielding, which must also be present on the connectors.

Update:

Issue already solved. The Cat6 connector was the issue. I made sure RJ45 connectors were for Cat6. Atem ran with no issues.

Thank you again for the help!

I understand the difference quite well. Depending on the Cat 6 cable and gauge of wire you can easily use a Cat 5 jack on the end. Only when using 22AWG wire do you need specific Cat 6 ends as they stagger the connections to accommodate the larger wire.

I have tested on my fluke Cat 6 cables with flat Cat 5 plugs and they tested good to 10GB.

Best,

David

Mark Foster wrote:

David_Anderson wrote:I use the same RJ45 connectors for both Cat 5 and Cat 6 all the time. Clearly a wiring issue.

The OP should be using all 4 pairs to make it easier to put the connector on.

Best,
David

you have not understood the difference between CAT5 and CAT6.

If you cut off the plugs on a CAT6 cable and install CAT5 plugs, it is a CAT5 cable at the end.
the difference is made by the shielding of the individual pairs, but also the overall shielding, which must also be present on the connectors.

Thanks for the helpful discussion on studio cabling. it’s always a challenge to manage long cable runs cleanly in tight spaces. For anyone setting up a high-performance network, especially in environments that require strict fire safety standards like plenum spaces, using a reliable Cat6 plenum cable 1000ft has made a huge difference in our setup. It's been perfect for maintaining stable connections between switches and broadcast equipment.

Curious if anyone here has tested shielded plenum cables in interference-heavy areas?

NYC_Ethernet_Pro wrote:Curious if anyone here has tested shielded plenum cables in interference-heavy areas?

State of art rules of cabling prevent from having interference sources in the vicinity (parallele lines with power lines, decharge lamps, RF transmitter and so on).
It's also depend of speed (100m for 10 Gbps and 30m for 40 Gbps). Usual professionnal cables cat6A or 8 with braid and foil shield (s-ftp) are more resistant in theory but physical laws are and remain.
Fiber become standart no only interference free but also for easier upgrading speed. Fiber with EN 50200 normalization resist up to 830° during 120 minutes... so good choice for plenum.