RJ45 Plug and Jack with 50 micron gold plated contacts
The contact of RJ45 plug used for Ethernet patch cable is gold plated to maintain optimum conductivity with RJ45 jack (receptacle on the wall). There are several kinds of gold plating thickness available in the market. The lowest grade is called flash gold, and the thickness is mere 3 to 6 micron. The highest is 50 micron. The difference the thickness makes is the aging. Contacts of RJ45 plug and jack are exposed to moisture in the air that causes corrosion on metal surface. Gold is well known as high conductive and non-corrosive material. Thicker gold plating better protects contact material from corrosion (thus keeps stable Ethernet connection speed) for longer years. Especially when installing patch cables in high humidty or not-clean air environment, 50 micron gold plated plug and jack is recommended. BestLink Netware patch cable uses 50 micron gold plated RJ45 plug, and contact pin of our RJ45 jack is 50 micron gold plated.