Don't forget to test your Cabling System

Speaking of Enterprise cabling, we are faced with the same number of device types that enterprises will possess. Any special cable of the same type cannot meet the requirements. Cabling manufacturers and connector manufacturers have joined hands to launch infrastructure products with higher quality and better performance. Today, most networks are moving towards six types of systems. The remaining five or 5e systems are considered outdated technologies. Some companies have even adopted Level F systems.

Systems with better installation quality and higher quality have become a trend. This is partly because the company wants to achieve long-term system investment benefits. The lifecycle of a cabling system is only about 10 years, although Class F/7 systems are nearly 15 years old. Higher-speed applications and hardware can use the increased bandwidth of these systems. The iterative design of applications and hardware must also be carried out around these systems. Compared with older 5 or 5e systems, such systems have lower requirements for noise elimination levels of core systems. This helps reduce the cost of electronic components and the future technical support/troubleshooting costs.

Every VoIP manufacturer recommends that users check infrastructure before installing a VoIP or IPTCIP call system. This is because the installed systems and components involve a wide range of applications. An industry Evaluation Report submitted to IEEE states that about 50% or more of 5e systems cannot pass the 5e test. We will briefly discuss the reasons. But the real problem is that if the active electronic components are developed based on a specific wiring system, the user thinks that the physical layer installation should also be correct and has passed the tests of their respective classes or levels. Active electronic components are delivered to the laboratory and then tested using a standard cabling system. If the device passes the internal test and independent test, it is then put on the market. However, if the customer's on-site installation level is low or the on-site equipment product quality is poor, the performance level cannot be the same as that of the lab test.

First, installation is a major factor. The correct installation method should cover the entire cabling channel. BICSI and some companies train installers to learn the correct installation technology. Some manufacturers only need to install several plug-ins on the terminal to solve one or two problems, and then appoint them as certified installers. This approach is not appropriate. If improperly installed, even the best cabling system on the market will become useless. According to a survey conducted by CableTesting, the component with the highest failure rate in the cabling system is incorrect. It may exist in Wiring Boards, wall interfaces, or patch cords of field terminals. The other four factors affect cable disconnections, excessive casing or jacket disconnections, poor Cable Routing, and poor archiving. I want to point out that poor archiving does not necessarily affect performance, but it may have a greater impact on troubleshooting.

Secondly, material quality is an influencing factor. Cabling systems that meet minimum or barely meet the standards are more prone to errors than those that provide a margin higher than the standards. Redundancy is introduced to cope with exceptions that the cabling system will encounter throughout its lifecycle. It would be nice if we could lay the cables online in every place and expect no one to touch them in its 10-year life cycle. But in fact, this simply does not work. The wall will be moved, and other activities will be carried out in this place. Think like this: if you own a car with a speed of 90 miles per hour, although reaching 90 miles is unnecessary (it is generally illegal to speed up to 90 miles per hour, but it is another thing ), but if you had to reach 90 miles per hour, you would have to buy this car. If your car can only reach 55 miles per hour, you will be limited. If a car breaks down from time to time, its speed may be only 45 miles per hour. If so, you never want to drive on the highway.

Today, older legacy systems are becoming increasingly popular on the Internet. In many instances, the older the field equipment, the older the wiring system. Type 4 or 5, type 1, type 9, or even dual-axis systems are still used globally. As technology advances, these legacy systems are gradually being replaced by systems with better performance. Long-sighted companies no longer use the 5e class when replacing old systems. They realized that the cost of replacing the system was high and they didn't want to change the system in the near future. These companies are moving towards 10G 6 or 7 systems and at least 6.

Does this mean that you should remove all old cabling systems and replace them with new cabling systems? The answer depends on what the system you have installed and how it is running. It is best to check your infrastructure. Check should include the network layer and physical layer. It may not be enough to use an on-site tester to check whether the cables run normally. Noise-related problems are intermittent and may occur in any part of the channel. If you just connect to a tester and use it as the only tool for fault diagnosis, you may not be able to identify many problems. In old systems, cabling systems may be affected by moving, adding, changing, and potentially aging components. If you hire a certified infrastructure technician or someone with both physical and electronic component layer verification technologies to check your infrastructure, you will save a lot of money and a lot of trouble.

As the saying goes, there is a natural truth in preventing problems before they happen. Troubleshooting of faults in noisy networks is both labor and financial loss. By using QoS service quality, BandWidth Manager, and even additional electronic components, You can mask some problems. However, if you do not repair important infrastructure, this is only a solution to the problem. With the increase of real-time network transmission, it is more wise to install a high-quality system and install it by persons who have been trained in full channel installation technology. Finally, pay attention to the Quality Guarantee of the system. If the quality guarantee provided by the manufacturer does not include components and services, but only application guarantee, you are responsible for any problems. Taking the same car as an example, imagine that if a car can reach a speed of 90 miles per hour and this is what you need, but the road is pitted, your journey will at least be bumpy, it may even be your last trip.

1. Test Technology of integrated network cabling
2. Test Method of integrated wiring connection hardware