2015-09-12 - bad cabling
TRANSCRIPT
Bad cabling day
http://www.cablinginstall.com/articles/slideshow/photo-of-the-day/new-image-
gallery/may-2015-homepage-photos.image=0.html
Cable labeling?
From Bitstream (Atlanta, GA), a
provider of structured cabling design
and installation services and a
specialist in low-voltage wiring, comes
this "example of...substandard quality
work that we've encountered."
Interesting cable labeling technique!
Pull up a chair
Another full enclosure-sized, top-to-
bottom tangle found by Kim Dunlap of
Dunlap Cabling, a Maine-based
installer of structured voice and data
cabling and video surveillance
systems. No sitting down on this job!
'Shade tree' Cat 5 install (1
of 3)Ironically enough, Jeremy Peace, a cabling technician with Computer Services of Ky LLC, found this "shade tree" gone wrong-type Cat 5 installation propped up at a local car dealership. Let's hope more learned hands are being brought to bear on any vehicles sold or serviced by this place...
"I can't think of any more ways these two Cat 5 jacks could have been done more incorrectly. Keep in mind, these pictures are from the SAME wall plate!
We were called out to a car dealership because the service manager's computer had 'intermittent network connection issues.' We were told they had another IT guy move this wall plate to the other side of the room and add another Cat 5 line to the same wall plate for a new network printer.
Look closely at how he punched it down; you gotta give him credit, at least he knows the correct pin out for a T568B plug, LOL!"
'Shade tree' Cat 5 install (2
of 3)
"The network drop he added is the
one with electrical tape. He told them
they didn't need to waste money on a
Cat 5 keystone jack and that he could
'hardwire' the printer cable inside the
wall. Ummm....."
'Shade tree' Cat 5 install (3
of 3)
"We dropped in a couple Leviton jacks
and actually kept the orange keystone
jack. I hung it up in my shop with a
message for our technicians: If you
can't see the problem, turn in your
tools."
OSP cable repair FAIL (1 of
2)
An IT technician from the State
Government of Arizona writes in with
the following anecdote to explain this
fiasco:
"The electrician for the general
contractor on this particular project
thought this was an acceptable repair
to an OSP cable. They then followed
up by repairing the damaged 2”
conduit that was covered by a support
wall concrete footer. We were lucky
enough to be able to pull it out and
replace the segment with a proper
splice outside of the new structure."
OSP cable repair FAIL (2 of
2)
"I should mention that, not only did
[the general contractor] (A) fail to
report the damage to the owners right
away; they (B) attempted to repair the
damage themselves; and (C) failed to
call in to Bluestake beforehand. All 3
issues are a violation of state law."
DIY enclosure
Another belief-defying glimpse into IT
incompetency sent in by Kim Dunlap
of Dunlap Cabling (Lyman, ME).
Really? They DID NOT just use some
scraps of 2x4, drywall and masking
tape to enclose that switch! Oh, but
they did. A new acronym is hereby
required: DIYAW [Do It Yourself All
Wrong]. This would almost be clever, if
it weren't so bad.
Library books counterfeit
cabling (1 of 2)
Kim Dunlap of Dunlap Cabling, Inc. (Lyman, ME), an installer of structured voice and data cabling and video surveillance systems, tells the story here:
"Working at a large library, in a large city. The powers that be never put in the remodel budget funds for cabling for cameras, wireless AP's or workstation locations. So the IT person had it placed on their shoulders to fix it, and they went looking on the Internet for cable and panels.
My proposal was too high for them, but we did get to do some clean up in the data room for the library.
Talking with the IT person, I asked what was the price on Cat 6 plenum he found online. Wow! Much lower than I ever paid. Flag #1.
He showed me the boxes of Cat 6 and Cat 5e, plus the stack of patch panels to go with them. Never head of them. So I looked at the boxes of cable and panels. No UL mark anywhere. Flag #2."
Library books counterfeit
cabling (2 of 2)
"So out of curiosity, I pulled out just a
bit of wire. Didn't feel right. Stripped it
down to copper conductor. Scratched
it with scissors. Aluminum.
Had to give him the bad news.
I feel that every once in awhile the IT
profession needs to add something to
the "Certification" they take and
promote on the wall like, 'I don't know
anything about structured cabling.'
Here's a link to the offending cable
supply company:
https://www.1000ftcables.com/#/pro
duct/260"
Old PBX, cheap cablingOld PBX, cheap cabling…What's an SMB to do? --As recounted at nojitter, a recent customer engagement for Matt Brunk, the director of IT of a South Florida health care firm, showcased the frustrations small and medium-sized businesses face in dealing with technology upgrades.
"The cabling depicted in the photograph is an example of what I found installed at this customer site," writes Brunk. "The jacks in use throughout the installation are knockoffs that were sold in the late 1980s and early 1990s -- cheap imports without retainer clips (including none on the wiring terminations). When purchased, these jacks would have cost around a dollar each, considerably cheaper than the then-prevailing $5 to $6 cost of higher-quality jacks.
"The LAN (RJ45) port is missing the plastic backing, and the faceplate has visible damage. In addition, the data drop is poorly terminated, with the wire a Cat5 cable of fair quality, as is discernable with color bleed on the orange conductor. As you can see, the installer did a poor job of terminating the cable as well -- he left excessive wire exposed and a dangling green pair, didn't use retainer clips, and didn't cut off the cord. These things don't matter functionally, but are a sign of sloppy work. The voice drop, too, is only of fair quality."
Spaghetti with salt
Now here's a fine mess taken with
many grains of salt, as seen at the
excellent Pinterest site, "Data Center
Cabling," via the same of ServerLIFT
Corp, who has the pugnacious
comment:
"Nice cabling job. Is this someone's
lunch room?"
Great support
WHAT NOT TO DO: Tie bundled
cabling into the light fixtures. Another
head-scratcher submitted by Craig
Lee, lead technician at Cabling
Technologies Incorporated (CTI) of
Stoneham, MA. Great support, indeed.
Patriotic cabling mess
It's a grand old tangle of network
wiring alright, but was it born on the
fourth of July? Nah, this probably took
longer than just one day to accrue.
This patriotically tinged cable mess is
just one of many similar photos
gathered by Vibrant Technologies, a
dealer of networking, servers and data
storage hardware based in
Minnetonka, Minnesota.
Cabling is not a hobby
An abundance of black electrical tape
and looped chain surrounding bundled
cabling doglegged amid ductwork and
pipes, was the telltale sign of the
amateur's hand for Craig Lee, lead
technician at Cabling Technologies
Incorporated (CTI) of Stoneham, MA.
Just hanging out
"The customer wanted me to upgrade
their fiber enclosure," writes in John J.
Crawford, RCDD, of HITECH
Communications (Robins, Iowa). "I
guess the previous installer wanted to
save room on the wall."
Wrong kind of spaghetti (1
of 2)
In the business office of a Boston
restaurant, this unappetizing mass of
cabling spaghetti was what Craig Lee,
lead technician for Cabling
Technologies Incorporated (CTI) of
Stoneham, MA, found served up for
his team to tuck into.
Wrong kind of spaghetti (2
of 2)
Here, a finish shot of a closet re-do
from that same restaurant. "Nice
presentation," as they say in the chef's
trade.
A stated on its website, CTI offers the
following services: network, voice, and
fiber-optic cabling installation;
computer network and telephone
system re-locations; copper feeder
systems and Verizon demarcation
extensions; systems troubleshooting,
testing, and certification; and adds,
moves, and changes.
CEO-approved tradecraft
(1 of 2)
Glenn Sexton, president and CEO of
Northwest Information Services (NIS) -
- and recognized by this publication as
one of the cabling industry's key
contributors -- sends in the following
two snaps:
"Before and after a technician spent a
couple hours...
CEO-approved tradecraft
(2 of 2)
...and correctly dressed cords."
"As the only consulting company in the
Pacific Northwest that is a voting
member of the Telecommunications
Industry Association (TIA), NIS is
shaping the future of communications
technology and can bring this
competency to your organization,"
asserts company's website. "Our focus
is to deliver quality services with
proven expertise in all
communications technology
disciplines."