What's the going rate for LAN wiring?

For many contracts, its required you provide a performance audit of your cable work.

The ones that provide recordable audits run over $7,000.

A working link to the above:

I've used to have one, but its worthless at testing a cable beyond wiring faults.

Yeah, well, we'll use the Ted Kennedy Strategy if that happens, you know "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it!"

DTC wrote in news:nfmAj.8181$ snipped-for-privacy@nlpi069.nbdc.sbc.com:

Yes, understood. Being in the wireless biz myself, I know that clients have different requirements of testing and certification for products/services you provide them. It seems the larger the project, there are more 'extras' that are required.

Fair enough...that particular unit looks to be a super-deluxe cats-ass model and it does fiber as well. I've found some others since.

Maybe, but if you follow the proper procedures and building code regulations when installing, you shouldn't really run into many problems other than wiring faults in smaller systems, as the OP needs.

I totally agree. If you use best practices and common sense, you shouldn't have any problems. Thinking back over a three year period, of all the jacks I've put in only one didn't work. Even after reterminating it, it still was bad so I replaced the jack.

CAT6 is a little different. I'd say one out of twenty may fail and all you need to do is repunch the jack.

Interestingly was a test of stapling CAT5 cables. I read it on some telecom installers forum where someone stapled a hundred feet of cable with a box of staples and it passed certification. While it might be all right to staple cables, there is too much a chance of driving a staple through the cable.

Which brings up the question of cable-ties.

If cable-ties are used to cinch bundles of cables (and I mean *cinch*), A. is this detrimental to speed, and B. can the effect be reversed by cutting the tie and using tape instead (or a looser-applied tie)?

In comp.dcom.lans.ethernet DTC wrote in part:

Not with the proper stapler or using the spacing nose-piece.

I don't doubt this worked if:

1) The staples didn't crimp the cable (ie, it could be slid back & forth underneath the staple.

2) The staples were _irregularly_ spaced to avoid creating a notch-filter.

-- Robert

John E. wrote in part:

A definite maybe. Crimping cable is similar to over-pulling and will hurt crosstalk isolation. Whether this is critical depends on many factors, especially cable length.

Maybe a little if the bruise is massaged. But so long as the cable isn't pushing the max lenght, poor termination is the most likely (and fixeable) defect. After that, it could be overpulling, especially around too-tight a corner. Or inferior cable.

In practice, cables do not slow a little bit: they run either gigE, 100baseTX or 10baseT. Factor of 10 drops each time. Any intermediate speed indicates some other software/hardware bottleneck. Or horrible retransmits like from a home-made patchcord with a split pair.

-- Robert

Dang it...I wasn't thinking and hit SEND.

I was going to add that when we tested a twenty foot length stapled around a base board with a TDR, we could see disconuities where the T-25 staples were...which gives credibility of creating a notch filter as well as other SWR issues.

We try to avoid stapling and use wire molding, but if thats not an option, we'll use a staple gun that uses stand off staples.

From Lowes - Cable Boss? Mechanical Staple Gun

Try the experiment with a length of cable suspended in the air between two points and simple lay the staples on top of it; if you say any effects I would be truly surprised.

Michael

Cold fingers on a crappy keyboard... s/simple/simply/ s/say/see/

Michael

To ad to this. For the frequent change situations, slotted raceway can hold extra cable and look nice also.

David

But over time? Buildings and walls vibrate. Depends on what is bolted to what where. AC on the roof over the load bearing wall you're using? Subway under your foundation? These kinds of things cause staples and sharp corners and whatever to migrate into the casing or through it and the insulation. So everything is fine for 1 to 10 years then you get a series of ongoing failures.

Similar to my house built in 63. I bought it in 90. I had a water leak show up somewhere about every 6 to 12 months. I just figured it was the old compression fittings failing due to corrosion. Turned out my water pressure was about 160 psi. Once I put in a regulator and took it down to less than 80 I've not had a leak in 5 years.

Think of those staples as a long term problems developing slowly.

David Ross

Can you point to an example of this? Sounds cool...

FBt

That was my point although not clearly made; I believe that the compression of the cable would be responsible for any TDR effects seen.

Michael

So would I.

Now try it again with it stapled to plywood and where the staples deform the outside jacket.

Oh, yes, these. I know them. I was picturing a longitudinal slot, which I hadn't seen before...

Thanks, FBt

What I've done is put these vertically one or two side by side where cables come into the area. Run them down and back up and out to the patch panels as needed. The slack is under the covers and what you see is neat.