I’ve recently purchased a rack cabinet for my new build (currently being put on hold) in which I’ve had 60 runs of cat 6 put in.
I will require to punch down on to patch panel and wall jacks.
The cabinet came with 5 24 port cat5 patch panels.
Could I use them or would I be better off going down getting a cat6 patch panel/keystones?
Also for the punch down I have a cheap punch down tool that I’ve got in a little set. Wondering if theres any recommendations for a decent punch down tool.
If you can find the older version of this one, it works great. The difference from the Klein and most others is this one has a wire pick and a small blade that flip out from the handle. That thing is so handy. The other difference is that up close to the blade is a button that lets you choose to impact or lock the blade. If you ever have to punch down a jack and the jack has to be placed on drywall, you don’t want to use the impact because it will dent the drywall. If you push the button, you can push down as hard as you need to to terminate the cable without the impact denting the drywall. It’s small stuff, but worth the $25 over a cheap tool.
How much more time does it take you to do the individual keystones vs 24/48 port patch panels? I’ve never done one, but can see it has the potential for a cleaner install.
I can usually do a keystone patch panel about twice as fast as a punch down patch panel. I would highly recommend checking out Vertical Cable and their I-Punch tool. It makes terminating a keystone a breeze.