Poor cabling job.

[beatmix01]

So i just set up an access point in my office.

When I went to plug in the patch cable, whoever wired up the office originally did not too a great job. On of the ports was miswired. Thankfully I had a crossover cable to bypass the problem.

Moral of the story. Ensure that you get a thourough status report of all your jacks post installation job.

 

[Transition]

If you want to see poor cabling, come to my work. Actually, don't come. You'd probably die after you see what's been done.

 

[Need4Speed]

Originally posted by: Transition
If you want to see poor cabling, come to my work. Actually, don't come. You'd probably die after you see what's been done.

lol...I can relate...the wiring at my office is sh*t too. someone sure didnt know what they were doing.

 

[spidey07]

heh. I totally understand.

Unless the job is done by a professional who specializes in data cabling...it is most likely fubarred.

Like 9 times out of 10 fubarred. Even the pros fubar it sometimes.

 

[martind1]

why does this qualify as not a great job? seems like he just left it crossed over. maybe someone has it in the wrong port.

bottom line is its not done the way you want. maybe you didnt tell him the correct way you wanted.


further more, checkign someones work should be expected. youpay for a service you better make sure it was done to your satisfaction.

 

[ScottMac]

It would qualify as an amateur / bad / unprofessional install because NO installer worth a damn would crossover a cable in the wall. That's why jumper segments exist.

There's way more to a "good" cabling job than yanking the media and attaching it to something at each end.

It's more-than-likely right up there as a "SUX DELUX" install job (as are 90% of self-installs / done by the "network guy" that lives next door, and other entheusiasts that know nothing about cabling specs).

Any commercial install that isn't accompanied by a certification and warranty (on paper) is likely to be junk.

... not that I have any real opinion on the subject or anything .....


FWIW

Scott

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: ScottMac
It would qualify as an amateur / bad / unprofessional install because NO installer worth a damn would crossover a cable in the wall. That's why jumper segments exist.

There's way more to a "good" cabling job than yanking the media and attaching it to something at each end.

It's more-than-likely right up there as a "SUX DELUX" install job (as are 90% of self-installs / done by the "network guy" that lives next door, and other entheusiasts that know nothing about cabling specs).

Any commercial install that isn't accompanied by a certification and warranty (on paper) is likely to be junk.

... not that I have any real opinion on the subject or anything .....


FWIW

Scott

nah, you are just the guys pushing the "ohhh, anixter levels...ohhh" propoganda.



You're right though. no cert, no warranty means you just have copper in the walls.

don't fvck with the physical layer.

 

[Kremlar]

As Chris Farley once said, "I can take a sh*t in a box and mark it guaranteed but then all you'll have is a guaranteed pile of sh*t." :laugh: :laugh:

Don't concentrate on finding someone who'll give you a piece of paper, find someone who knows what they're doing.

Data cabling is not rocket science - it just requires a little knowledge and a lot of common sense.

 

[imported_Paladin]

Originally posted by: Transition
If you want to see poor cabling, come to my work. Actually, don't come. You'd probably die after you see what's been done.

Is it worse than
THIS?
The slim box on the side of the printer stand is a Starplus 1224EX phone system. The telephone cross-connect backboard is screwed to the adjecent side of the printer stand. The box on top of the printer stand is a LAN-in-a-Box with a a T1 DSU/CSU, a router, two 24-port hubs, and a dial-up modem/power control. The mess on the floor is the LAN cables (blue) and voice cables (white/grey).

 

[ScottMac]

Kremlar: SO, exactly how would someone know that the cable people "know what they're doing?"

If they're not willing to stand behind their work with certified results, what other confidence builder would you suggest?

I'm not talking about home networking ... who cares about home networking ... I'm talking business / commercial installs.

It's not rocket science, no doubt, but there are an amazing variety of specifications and rules that must be followed to achieve maximum performance (and then there's the Federal, State, and Municipal electrical code).

Any business that'd hire the twerp next door to cable-up their business gets what they deserve (generally sub-par performance, ranging up to serious code violations and fines).

There's much more to proper cabling than crimping or punching a few connections.

"Getting it working" and "Getting it done right" are not the same categories.

If the cabling / media is not right, the whole network is crap. Any money saved by cheaping-out on the materials or installation are usually consumed the first time the network has some glitchy problem or poor performance related to the bad install. When you use a qualified, bonded installer and there's a problem, they will generally correct it as a matter of warranty (Avaya installs (done to spec) are guaranteed for 20 Years, for example).

.02

Scott
(I was about due for a good cable rant anyway)

 

[Kremlar]

Kremlar: SO, exactly how would someone know that the cable people "know what they're doing?"

Common sense. Word of mouth. Ask intelligent questions.

I'm not saying a good installer won't provide a written certification, but not every good installer offers a certificate, and not every company who provides a certificate is going to offer good work.

I don't care what the certificate says, a year from now if you have an issue and the company is not resolving your issue promptly, your certificate isn't going to mean crap - you're going to call a vendor who can fix your issue.

I'm not sure what kind of infrastructure you guys are dealing with, but I deal with standard cat 5/6 installs, fiber backbones, etc. on a daily basis at dozens of different locations. I VERY rarely find any kind of glitchy problems due to cabling, unless it's very obvious (bad jacks, cabling near flourescent lights, crimps/jacks are out of spec, etc.).

I've found cabling jobs messier than the picture above perform 100% flawlessly and test out 100% when we have an issue, since it seemed to be the obvious weak link, only to find a bad switch somewhere in the mix to be causing the issue.

Also, low voltage code in my area and any areas I know is not very difficult to adhere to.

 

[spidey07]

umm, if its certified/tested its good.

if it is certifed to EIA/TIA specs it doesn't look messy. There are codes for installation/maintenance/documentation, if followed you have a good cable plant.

If the person didn't request this in the scope of work then it is their fault - not the installer.

 

[Kremlar]

umm, if its certified/tested its good.

Umm... things do go wrong after install.

 

[ScottMac]

Yes they do. but MUCH less likely on a tested and certified cabling system.

That's the point. If every run has passed a certification scan and has been documented properly, the chances that some punch is going to fall out of the block is pretty slim (or it wouldn't have passed the scan).

If there is a problem later, there is some baseline information that can be compared with to see what the nature of the problem / degradation is. It usually reduces the diagnostic time significantly.

If you hire an outfit that can do full certification testing, it generally means they are committed to doing it right and have spent some decent money on the equipment to do so. They also (with no exceptions that I know of) offer a warranty and will come out to re-certify any runs that are suspect (and fix 'em). If there's a problem mid-span, they have the equipment that can detect and locate the problem (and fix / replace it for free if it's their fault).

The other aspect of a professional installer is that they are usually bonded. If they mess something up during the install, they will fix it or pay for it to be fixed properly.

Yes, a "real" cabling installer is more expensive to hire but, for a business, loss of network access usually correlates to a loss of revenue; the extra cost is insurance against the likelyhood of media failure or poor media performance.

.02

Scott

 

[skyking]

If there's a problem mid-span, they have the equipment that can detect and locate the problem (and fix / replace it for free if it's their fault).

Most times, they run the test, it indicats a fault at x number of feet. They get to that spot, and point out the fastener that someone has driven through the cable!!