I used to think 66 blocks were fine for cat6, but a network guy set me straight

At a job site in Detroit last month, I was punching down cat6 on a 66 block like I always do. A Comcast contractor walked by and told me I was killing my data speeds. He showed me the test results on his meter - 200 MHz on a 66 block vs 350 on a 110. Swapped to a 110 block that afternoon and the speed test jumped from 480 Mbps to 890. I still prefer 66 blocks for voice lines, but I'm done using them for data. Has anyone else noticed real world speed gains switching punchdown blocks?

2 comments

2 Comments

allen.amy5d ago

That 200 MHz vs 350 MHz gap explains why my VoIP phones kept dropping packets until I swapped to 110 blocks last year.

logantaylor4d ago

Swapping to 110 blocks fixed a similar issue for me too, the extra bandwidth really cleaned up our call quality. Honestly that MHz difference makes a bigger impact than most people realize.