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."

No respect

This Must See cabling photo, with

commentary, comes from Craig Lee,

lead technician for Cabling

Technologies Incorporated (CTI) of

Stoneham, MA:

"This is what happens when we beat

the electricians into the ceiling...no

respect."