TRENDnet Crimping Tool, TC-CT68,NDAA + TAA Compliant

I recently picked up the TRENDnet Crimping Tool, and let me tell you, I feel like a certified network technician. Sure, I may not know the difference between a router and a modem, but that doesn't stop me from crimping like a pro. This tool is easy to use, and even easier to pretend like you know what you're doing. The built-in cutter and stripper make preparing the cables a breeze, and the all-steel construction makes me feel like I could crimp through concrete if I wanted to (not that I've tried...yet). I've used this tool to crimp Ethernet cables, telephone cables, and even some random cords I found lying around my house. It works like a charm every time, and my friends are always impressed when I whip it out (the tool, that is). So, if you want to feel like a network wizard, or just need to crimp some cables for whatever reason, this tool is definitely worth checking out. Plus, it's black, so it matches all of my other tools, which is a nice bonus.

I work in IT in a large organization that sadly doesn't have management support for a full tool kit for their IT folks... So I have to provide my own tools. This is my 3rd RJ11 / RJ45 crimper, and although I don't ever use the RJ11 end of things, the RJ45 crimper is a mandatory tool for my job. This one replaces I believe a "Greenlee" or whatever green handled unit I picked up at the BORG. The build quality, finish, and function of this tool is absolutely fantastic. The contour of the handles is very comfortable and non fatiguing, and the cutter works fast and clean. About the only thing I don't use this for is stripping the jacket back on Cat 5e and Cat 6 cabling. I picked this up based on price, and I was shocked to find that I honestly feel I got more than my moneys worth for once. I will recommend this tool to my colleagues based on performance alone. Simply put, this makes my job easier. Enough said. I am curious about one review where the reviewer stated he wore one out in 6 months. I have had one of these crimpers before in the past, and I do a LOT of network cable work in my job. I tend to replace my crimpers and other network tools due to theft, not wear / breakage. I have never managed to wear a crimper out. I would love to know how many cables one needs to crimp to wear out one of these...

I have experience with similar, higher-priced versions of this tool. The lower quality construction is evident, and the documentation poor. That said, this is a very nice product for the price. It does exactly what the casual user needs. 1) It cuts and strips flat cable, and the cutting depth for the stripper is adjustable. 2) It will cut the covering off of round CAT5/6 cable, but one must be careful, and there doesn't seem to be a way to measure how much of the insulation to remove. I didn't see this noted in the limited documentation. It is a round opening in one of the handles with a cutting blade in the other handle. That blade cuts through the insulation, and reasonable care must be used not to nick the wires within. I removed more of the insulation than I thought necessary, then trimmed the excess once I had the wires all lined up to go into the connector. I would trim some anyway, because the wires are not even after they are fanned out to go into the connector. I used a small wire nipper for this, not a wire cutter designed to cut 12-18 gauge wire. 3) The feature that "locks" the handles for storage is not correctly described. This feature actually comes from better-quality tools. The purpose of the feature is to require the operator to fully close the handles during crimping. The point is to ensure that the connector is fully crimped. The handles are supposed to release when the connector is fully crimped. This feature doesn't work all that well on this tool, in my opinion, but the tool still makes good connections. If you close these handles all the way, they release, just as the better-quality tools do. If you want to /store/ the tool, close the handles most of the way, and they will stay closed. Close them all the way, and they will spring open again. I store mine in the package it came in. I used the tool to make RJ45 connections, and had no faulty connections, so I give this a 5 for doing the job, and less for the overall quality of the tool and the poor docs. If you are in the business, spend a lot more; I don't think any home user will regret this purchase.

Great product. Highly intuitive and easy to use. Stripped cable easily. Crimped easily. I'd never crimped a RJ11 plug before. All I did was watch a YouTube video showing how to crimp and then play with this tool for a few minutes... did a few practice plugs on spare cable... then crimped a very important connection that worked perfectly.

This tool is everything I could have wanted. I needed to cap off a line I had going into my bedroom that I accidentally cut. I figured this would be easier than buying a new cable and try pull it through a wall. The crimper itself is very well-made. I was surprised at how nice it felt in the hand based off other reviews who called it cheap looking. It was easy to use, stripped the cable perfectly and then took seconds to terminate the line. There was no clicking sound for me, it just worked. The hardest part for me was getting the 8 individual wires into the cap in the right order, which has nothing to do with the tool itself. I found the photos posted by Steven B. to be very helpful as a guide for the correct order the wires should be in. In terms of actually using the tool, the printed instructions are useless, but I found this video to be extremely helpful.

Preface: I currently have not used it enough to review the longevity of the product OR the blades used for cutting and stripping. I think you should look at the other reviews for that part. I think this crimper deserves 5 stars because it functions essentially the same as a $40 tool but for less than half that price. I use this concept with all my purchases and reviews. I would not downgrade this to 4 stars because the blades might be cheap. It's competition is a tool that cost twice as much. The TRENDnet RJ-11/RJ-45 Crimp/Cut/Strip Tool TC-CT68 (Blue) has 4 levels of stop (you can even see the notches) before it depresses all the way and releases. The final squeeze DOES NOT stay locked. While that could contribute to hand fatigue, I guess that's just how the crimpers work but the handle is comfortable enough. If you are terminating 50 ends at one time but NOT for professional/work reasons your hand may suffer and getting a more expensive crimper is up to you. I assume most the guys looking at this are buying it for personal/home reasons and will not be terminating lots of ends every day.

This tool is perfect for the do it yourself home wiring jobs. In my opinion you should never use the stripping feature of any crimping tool (beyond getting you started). It's highly possible that you did nick a wire (with any combined crimping/stripping tool), so after stripping use another small wire cutter to trim the sheathing further down (trimming it length wise) and make sure that in the end you fully cut the wires beyond the original stripping cut. Once you get the wires mapped out and ready to insert into your connector you can use this tool to cut the excess wire (it has a very sharp cutter and worked well). Then slip it in the connector, verify colors and crimp. This tool crimps well and the cutters are very sharp. It feels sturdy. Not much more I need from a crimper. This tool is a great value and works very well.

This crimper is high in quality, very far from the typical "made in China" crimpers that just end up in landfills after a couple uses. The package says "Designed in USA. Made in Taiwan." Backed by a 2 year warranty so Trendnet certainly believes this to be of high quality. The one that comes directly from Amazon is hardware version 1.1R which seems to be the latest as of this review according to the Trendnet website. The stripper does not work on all cables as pointed out by other users but this is a problem across all crimpers not just this one so do not bypass this product because it can't strip all cables perfectly. This problem occurs because the thickness of the outer insulation varies so it is hard to get it perfect for every possible cable diameter. The ratchet mechanism seems rather useless or maybe mine is faulty because the knob to turn to release it is stuck and I usually have to close in the handles for it to automatically release. It only seems to lock the handles when they are about half way closed in but I don't know if that is how it's supposed to work or if mine is faulty. I think it should have been made to lock the handles closer to the fully closed-in position instead of half way. Either way, the ratchet handle-locking is not significant to me, as a crimper this tool does a fine job.

Buena opcion

La he sustituido por dos de plastico que tenia para crimpar RJ11 y RJ45. He probado desde UTP de 8 hilos, pares telefonico y manguera telefonica de 4 hilos y todo perfecto y sencillo. Sirve para RJ11 4 contactos RJ12 6 contactos y RJ45. Introduces la manguera y al mismo tiempo que la corta debes de hacer un giro de muñeca para que marque la funda exterior. Despues solo con tirar sacas la funda quedando la longitud de hilos necesaria para los conectores. Yo para ver bien como funcionaba pele varios formatos de hilos y crimpe un conector RJ11 y RJ45. Es la mejor manera para ver el correcto funcionamiento y sacarle todo el partido necesario a la herramienta. Hecho de menos que se pueda quedar cerrada pero lo he solucionado colocando una cadenita de lavabo que la mantenga cerrada para poder guardarla mejor. El material de muy buena calidad y el acero de una gran dureza. Me costo bastante el poder taladrarla con una broca de 3mm para colocar la cadenita.

There are many, many cheap crimp tools out there. They often appear to crimp, but often they don't push all the pins home. This one does, its been reliable over thousands of crimps and for the price it doesn't get better. Over 7 ears of use and it still crips like the first. Handy sharp blade for trimming the cores straight, strips most cables well, sometimes nicks an inner core so you have to go steady with the stripping tool. Useful mnemonic if you need to remember the core order for network crimps: Start light start bright - Orange stripe - Orange Split the greens they are manky - Green Stripe Blues in the middle by now you are feeling down. (Green) Browns at the end - because well it comes last. Each core alternates Stripe, solid, stripe solid. Orange stripe - Orange, Green stripe, Blue, Blue Stripe, Green, Brown Stripe, Brown. This is part of a series where I go back through my buying history to review products that have stood the test of time, providing a longer term review and more insight than your average just bought impression.

Perfect tool

Great multi-purpose tool