The only time I've had issues with the plastic ones was on horizontal installs using direct burial ethernet.
The plastic outer lining of the ethernet was too hard for the seal to seal properly. The cheapish outdoor ethernet worked fine. On vertical installs I've never had an issue. They all get dielectric grease now. ----- Original Message ----- From: Charles Wu via Af To: [email protected] Sent: Friday, October 10, 2014 5:01 PM Subject: Re: [AFMUG] [QUAR] Re: Microwave Backhaul Ethernet Grommets - Feedback Wanted >Oh, and I don’t think metal glands necessarily require terminating the cable after passing through the gland (something that should be avoided at all costs). If I’m remembering right when we installed some Exalt G2 links, they had a metal gland that you could pass a cable terminated >with a shielded plug through. And that’s their entry level radio. I could be remembering wrong though, I don’t have one here to look at. Yeah, just grabbed an Exalt case that was lying on my desk and saw that…guess I need to do some more metal connector research That being said, is it worth the cost? Do I make plastic standard and include metal Ethernet grommets as an *upgrade* ? Or does that just sound too miserly and I’m just a cheapskate? At $30 / connector * 5 / radio (4 and 1 back-up), that’s an extra $150 / radio or $300 / link cost… -Charles From: Charles Wu via Af Sent: Friday, October 10, 2014 4:02 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [AFMUG] Microwave Backhaul Ethernet Grommets - Feedback Wanted Trying to figure out some Ethernet grommets and since you guys would be the ones directly using/installing these, thought I’d ask for input rather than just trying to guess what’s best for everyone – trying to decide metal vs. plastic Metal - Cannot put Ethernet cable through (need to crimp connector AFTER cable has gone through) - Expensive ($30+ / grommet) – when we’re trying to be competitive against Trango/SAF/etc with an all-outdoor microwave backhaul, every dollar counts (especially if we’re talking up to 4 connectors) - Feels more *rugged* Plastic: - Can put Ethernet cable through with the end on - Cheap ($0.50/grommet) – can throw a bunch of these in with every radio without increasing the price, and could send them out to customers without charging them if a customer needed things - Doesn’t *look/feel* as industrial / rugged as the metal grommet All suggestions / comments / thoughts are welcome Plastic Metal
