78

I have a 10 meter long Ethernet cable. One plug has the little locking clip missing, just like missing the part in red ellipse in the following picture.

Enter image description here

How can I fix it? Is this something I should even attempt to fix myself, or is it better to replace the cable?

Bob
  • 60,938
  • 25
  • 191
  • 216
Tim
  • 16,963
  • 69
  • 181
  • 260
  • 4
    The *"head"* is called a plug. It's not repairable. The broken plug can be cut off, and a new plug installed. But you would need a special crimp tool. – sawdust Feb 02 '14 at 02:37
  • 6
    In a lot of cases it doesn't matter. If there is nothing tugging on the cable it will usually stay in place pretty well, even if the latch is broken. Or if there's a computer repair place in town they will probably replace the end for a few bucks. – Daniel R Hicks Feb 02 '14 at 22:49
  • If it helps, my ethernet plug (RJ45) broke like this also, and i wedged in a small amount of blu-tac (on the top of the plug where your lug has broken off) to hold the plug in place. This was only meant to be a temporary measure to help hold it into the network card socket until I got to the shop and bought a replacement cable, but this was 2 years ago now and it's still held in place :) – flauntster Feb 03 '14 at 05:15
  • What I used to do when this happened was get some blutac and squeeze a bit of it in there so it would stick. – uSeRnAmEhAhAhAhAhA Feb 03 '14 at 08:04
  • 1
    I've attempted to clean it up a bit. Note that we normally don't like shopping/product-rec type questions (especially 'where is it cheapest' type), but I believe asking if it's fixable at all (with the alternative being buying a replacement) should be acceptable. – Bob Feb 03 '14 at 12:50

8 Answers8

107

If you don't want to replace the cable or install a new jack, you have a few of options:

user11153
  • 421
  • 1
  • 6
  • 10
GrossT
  • 1,079
  • 1
  • 6
  • 11
  • 49
    ...and I thought I'd found all the uses for the humble zip tie. ;) – codedude Feb 02 '14 at 05:00
  • 4
    That is truly inspiring. I have more Ethernet cables than I would like to admit that suffer from this problem. I started using zip ties to "fix" them, but by "fix", I tied them to a cable that had a working retention clip before connecting the whole bundle of cables to my switch ;) – Andon M. Coleman Feb 02 '14 at 06:10
17

It's entirely possible to cut off the plug and install a new one, but you will need a crimping tool. It's about $15. The thing is, your local store will probably charge you more than $15 for a cable - even if you buy it online, it'll probably be close to that when you take shipping into account. Therefore, it's cost-effective in my opinion, even if you only need it occasionally (and those pieces tend to break somewhat frequently, in my experience).

Also, if you ever need to run large amounts of cable, it's much cheaper to buy it in bulk and cut it yourself.

EDIT: Don't forget to match the plug type to the wire type - stranded or solid (in your case, the wire is almost certainly stranded).

user55325
  • 5,003
  • 18
  • 23
  • 8
    wiring an RJ45 isn't that simple for someone with no experience doing it. You can easily create a worse connection by improperly crimping/wiring a plug than if the tab were simply broken off. You should do some research on the process before you buy the tools and attempt it. Here is an instruction video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyZ9nEA_vCQ and there are many more like it on youtube. – MaQleod Feb 02 '14 at 03:12
  • 3
    Maybe. I didn't find it difficult, but I already had a fair amount of networking experience before I actually did it for the first time (although there weren't any Youtube videos then). And if you do it badly, all you waste is half an inch of cable and a 5-cent jack. – user55325 Feb 02 '14 at 03:15
  • 4
    It's not a "jack", but a **plug** in the photo. RJ45 jacks (aka sockets) don't have latches. -1 for giving (incomplete) advice to repair the cable without a caution on the proper plug to use (solid wire versus stranded). BTW there's a popular online store that has 10m 24AWG Cat5e cable for US$4. – sawdust Feb 02 '14 at 04:35
  • 3
    Be warned that newer standards for very high speeds (cat5e, cat6, cat6a) tend to have fairly strict requirements for exposed wire lengths, how far you're allowed to have the pairs untwisted, etc.. It's easy to mess up, and doing so has a decent chance of preventing 1 or 10 Gbit from working. – Bob Feb 02 '14 at 07:52
  • 1
    Either ethernet cable prices in the US are unusually high compared to the UK, or you need to find a better supplier. Amazon aren't cheapest for this kind of thing, and the first search hit was £5 ($8), others are considerably less. – Richard Feb 02 '14 at 09:06
  • 1
    @Richard In the US, monoprice charges ~$8 for 5 ethernet cables shipped. – PonyEars Feb 02 '14 at 10:53
  • 2
    The advantage of getting a crimp tool (and a bag of RJ45 plugs) and learning how to use it is that it makes dealing with the _next_ broken plug a lot easier. Also, you can get a cheap-but-usable crimp tool for [a lot less than $15](http://amzn.com/B0051HO8YQ) (possibly [a *lot* less](http://amzn.com/B007E6J8J2)). – Ilmari Karonen Feb 02 '14 at 17:51
  • Cheap but usable is not the way you want to go. If you're going to invest in a tool, invest in a tool, don't go cheap. Get a good ratcheting crimper, it is also the best way to guarantee the crimps are actually crimped when you're done - otehrwise you might not have gone completely through one of the wire casings and you'll have an intermittent connection. – MaQleod Feb 02 '14 at 20:59
  • @Sawdust - it'd already be a stranded cable not a solid one. – hookenz Feb 02 '14 at 23:58
  • A cable by definition is stranded. A wire is a single conductor, a cable is two or more conductors. – MaQleod Feb 03 '14 at 02:11
  • 7
    *"A cable by definition is stranded"* -- That's a definition that you made up that cable & wire manufacturers do not follow. You can find UTP cable (e.g. Cat5e) in both stranded and solid wire versions. Patch cables are almost always stranded wire for flexibility. Solid wire is preferred for in-wall use. Also, coaxial cable (aka coax) is a single solid core (not stranded) wire, yet it is called a cable; and an industry is named after it (i.e. the *cable* TV business). – sawdust Feb 03 '14 at 05:27
  • 1
    Answer can be improved by heeding the facts/advice in the comments. – Martin F Feb 03 '14 at 20:44
15

I was looking for the same thing, you might as well benefit from my research. There's a whole bunch of third party products that solve this exact problem. In no particular order:

This is called an RJCLIP, you can buy them on Ebay and Amazon. Heres a video demonstrating the idea.

enter image description here

This is an INTELLINET 771436 Repair Clip , Amazon has them enter image description here

This one is a DELOCK RJ45 repair kit , Ebay has them enter image description here

This one is called ClipFix , Amazon has them

enter image description here

Ive also found some asian ones but I cant locate them at present.

TripleAntigen
  • 280
  • 3
  • 8
  • 2
    Perfect—thank you! I wasn’t about to buy a whole box of zip ties for a DIY project. These 3rd-party solutions are exactly what I was looking for – velkoon Sep 30 '20 at 20:03
  • 1
    Update: I bought the second-pictured non-RJclip variety first (the ones that try to mimick the original cable's plastic shape). They quickly broke, exactly like the original clips on the Ethernet jacks. I highly recommend buying the RJclips, despite the long shipping time from Canada; much more reliable and long-lasting. They also stuck in my Ethernet port better than the others. The last option (ClipFix) has a much smaller form factor, so would maybe be good if you have a cable with a lot of protective rubber at the ends that would get in the way of the other adapters from fitting snugly. – velkoon Dec 02 '20 at 09:35
6

For a quick fix, I've successfully used a small piece of paper to wrap the 3 non-conductor sides of the socket and then insert the cable into the socket. Leave some paper extending outside the socket so you can prevent the plug from just pushing the paper into the socket. This hack can work for years, if there is not a lot of movement of the device or cable.

Otherwise, the only true fix is to cut-off and replace the plug.

Or, replace the cable if it is not a difficult routing issue. Cables are pretty cheap if you shop around online.

MrWonderful
  • 401
  • 3
  • 7
2

You can always cut the broken end and add a crimpless plug. Here is an example. They are more expensive than a crimped end, but perfect for an emergency. Different brands/models have different capabilities such as self cutting the wires.

Keltari
  • 71,875
  • 26
  • 179
  • 229
2

CHEAPEST AND EASIEST FIX. Slip a RUBBER BAND all the way under the plug clip if the locking plasticclip is cracked but not broken off. The rubber band will lift the inner non-broken part of the clip just enough for you to hear or feel the click when it locks in place. You can remove the plug by pressing down on the clip and rubber band as usual.

This works for a SEMI-PERMANENT FIX, in case you rarely re-insert the plug, to avoid having the cable plug annoyingly disengage when you accidently move the cable or router, especially when you are unaware of it.

Stan Caires
  • 21
  • 1
0

You can 3D print some RJ-45 clips that attach onto the existing connector, adding a new tab that you can use.

This is almost the same as the ones you can buy online, but you can make them yourself if you already have a 3D printer (or access to one) in any color you would like.

One such project is the RJ45 Clip by guss67:

enter image description here

Lemon
  • 119
  • 5
0

I 'fixed' my broken one for my laptop by attaching a long elastic band which I then stretched over and under the keyboard (luckily not blocking any keys) which pulled the plug in tight.

Then I splashed out on a short extension (about $5) as is shown in the article, and joined the two parts securely again by an elastic band, not by glueing.

Dennis Anthony
  • 1