No such cable as cat 6e lol, if you have continuity within the pair but showing a short the pair maybe touching if your using modals check the cuts sometime they touch, also look at the pins on what ever your patching into if they are damaged they could be touching its easy to do. Also if you made off your own ends and your a newbie it's probable just you, buy a bag full at maplins and keep trying

In reply to a post by Anonymous:

No such cable as cat 6e lol,

Category 6e

Category 6 Enhanced (6e) is an augmented specification designed to double transmission frequency to 500 MHz. By wrapping Category 6e in grounded foil shielding, full 10-Gigabit Ethernet speeds can be reached without sacrificing the max cable length of 100 meters.

That's cat6a.

No it says quite clearly Cat6e.

If it says 6e that is a typo or maybe a mistranslation (on an imported product). The standard that allows 10G ethernet for the full 90 metres of solid cable is 6a standing for "augmented" rather than "enhanced" (it is always possible a future iteration yet to be announced could be called "enhanced").

Whereas Cat 6 can run this speed for only 35 - 50 metres depending on the environment.

(in both cases I am allowing a bit for the possible patch cables at each end)

As usual for longer runs and/or electrical isolation one could use fibre.

Edited by prlzx (Sat 15-Sep-12 12:21:09)

You can buy some here http://www.cablingplus.com/t/cables/bulk-cable/cat-6...

or maybe some of this http://www.cablingplus.com/t/cables/bulk-cable/cat6a...

As others have noted, you only need two pairs for 100Mb/s, so you could go down that route, just clip the shorted pair at each end to avoid damaging your equipment and use one of the two spare pairs instead, that would be fine for a 100Mb/s link .

First thing to try though would be to check for a bad connection at one of the sockets, so you could try snipping the ends, re-terminating the connection and checking again (you did leave some slack cable, right?). If that doesn't fix the problem then you are looking at damage along the cable run, probably either a really bad kink or you've scraped it against something and stripped the cable to the metal. If that's the case, you might want to try and replace the cable - would it be possible to attach a new length of cable to the old one with some duct tape, then carefully pull the old one out from the other end, bringing the replacement cable through the same route with it?

As other posters have stated, you only need two pairs (4 cores) for a 100Mb/s link.

I have been running CAT6a since June 2009 and have never managed to have a short in a cable. I have even mistakenly drilled through one of the cables (In one side and out the other), and haven't managed to damage the cores or short them out. It still works at Gigabit speeds with no problems.

I would check the terminations on each end of the 'faulty' cable and re-terminate them just to make sure it wasn't a faulty connection.

Also have a look at the RJ-45 plug you are testing with and ensure the gold contacts are completely straight and not bent. Also make sure they are all at the same height when looking at it from the front.

My old RJ-45 crimp tool for some reason suddenly stopped pushing all 8 pins down correctly and only partially pushed down a few and pushed them sideways. Check whether your crimp tool may not be working properly .

For future reference, it's always recommended to test the cable immediately after installation .

As I indicated, that is mislabelled unless someone can quote the official document explaining what it stands for.

May even be the factory printing onto the cable had heard of 5e and assumed 6a was a typo, and "corrected" it. Stuff like that happens too. Don't be surprised if you see some 9e or e9 cable too (hint rotate a printed 'a')

Just because a vendor stamps a label on something, does not make it an official standard. But I will stand corrected if there is some new standard I have not yet seen!

Mislabelling and "made up standards" happened with earlier types of ethernet cable too, with claims to be suitable run longer cables that the guidelines state.
(the limit being not just about impedance and as much to do with maintaining reliable signal timings even in an unfriendly environment, rather than it just stopping working at 1 metre longer in all use cases).

Edited by prlzx (Sat 15-Sep-12 19:40:57)

There's plenty available. Why don't you buy some and compare it to Cat6a? http://www.icc.com/p/71/cat-6e-utp-solid-cable-600-m...