I've always considered it bad practice to put a plug on solid cable. Originally, they were supposed to be used on stranded cable, but people put them on solid. As a result, plugs for solid were created. However, you still have the issue of metal fatigue when used as a patch cord. When installing something like an access point, I terminate the cable in a keystone jack and then use a short patch cord to connect the AP. Also, when installing shielded cable, it's supposed to be grounded at one and only one point. If grounded at both ends, it will tend to act as an antenna and pick up a lot of noise. BTW, I started working as a technician in the telecom industry in 1972 and have a LOT of experience with cables and connectors over half a century.
Hello James, you are ABSOLUTELY CORRECT regarding the less than ideal practice of putting 8P8C plugs onto solid copper Ethernet. There is not only metal fatigue, but issues with mechanical stability (therefore electrical stability) due to lateral movement at the rear of the plug due to the fact the golden contacts don't actually penetrate into the copper itself. The fragile golden contacts pierce the conductor insulation and straddle the conductor from the sides, which is totally unlike IDC terminations (keystones, etc) that contact the actual conductor wires from 90 degree angles. Then, take into account that there are manufacturing tolerance variations in the conductor and especially conductor wire insulation diameter that the plug cannot compensate for, and you have a termination type with a high failure rate.
