What to expect from getting house wired with cat6

[sparkwright]

Tend to agree with Rocky.

Many electrical companies will just run the data cables and leave the connecting to someone else.

I suppose data cabling is still relatively new to some people.

I guess the £500 quote indicates he didn't really want to do it.

Was it ever agreed that he would do the patch panel wiring?

This is often left to the data people - even though the connecting up is relatively easy if you've done it before.

I suppose the most disappointing thing in all this is that some of the data sockets he fitted were done badly. This could be lack of experience, or carelessness.

Some of these sockets, I think, have a snap down fitting on the back, so it's very hard to tell if any contact has actually been made.

Experience usually helps in these matters.

You'll have to put this down to experience, and get someone else to do it.

I've never yet met an ordinary electrician who tests any data cabling he's installed.

That gets left to the user!

 

[chivers67]

A simple LAN tester can be bought for under a tenner, if there's plenty of slack you could terminate each cable onto a blank socket and test them pretty easily

 

[Siclark]

Cheers.
Yes am definitely doing a patch panel and had agreed with him I would but wasnt sure if I was letting him off work he should do. I don't expect cables tested for certification just that all cores are connected. I found my punch down tool this evening and ran it over all slots for each of the 3 in one socket that were not working and sure enough they are all now connected. So wasn't hard to fix.

Agreed putting plugs on a waste but annoyed to be checking and fixing his work. Think I will wire up the patch panel, test myself, although time consuming switching test unit over across 4 sockets in 10 rooms and then make decision from there. Maybe if only a few cores wrong fix them myself.
Would it be worth getting someone in to check speeds of all the cables then, ensure I am getting gigabit then, maybe would be cheaper than paying them to wire the patch panel as well.

 

[Lectrician]

If you have two laptops, you can use them to do a simple speed test, with some small command line software on each. It won't do the full detailed tests that a network analyzer would do, but you really don't need that for a home.

Most sparks like to think they can do data, but usually do it poorly, and install the cables in the manner they would with other cables, when in reality you need to take care and respect the cable. Many will bung it it, bung the ends on, see google, and say jobs done. It works. TCP-IP is kind of a "self healing" protocol. If data packets go missing, they get resent, so you may well be able to browse the web and send files, but the link may not be able to transmit data as fast as it should as packets are constantly getting lost.

It's a grey area with sparks. Some will happily put the ends on, some will do patch panels, but standards vary so much between them all.

 

[Siclark]

If you have two laptops, you can use them to do a simple speed test, with some small command line software on each. It won't do the full detailed tests that a network analyzer would do, but you really don't need that for a home.
QUOTE]

Thanks, any pointers on what to do. It would then at least give me an idea if I need to get a pro in to correct.

 

[JohnW2]

If you have two laptops, you can use them to do a simple speed test, with some small command line software on each. It won't do the full detailed tests that a network analyzer would do, but you really don't need that for a home.

Indeed - but wouldn't one have to put plugs on all the cables to that reasonably?

Kind Regards, John

 

[ban-all-sheds]

with some small command line software on each.

Why not use FTP to do the transfer? Or just drag'n'drop a large file in windoze?

 

[drgl]

No, use patch leads. The ends should be terminated to sockets at one end & the panel at the other. The ping command is pretty pointless, a continuity test will be no better.

 

[drgl]

with some small command line software on each.

Why not use FTP to do the transfer? Or just drag'n'drop a large file in windoze?

What's that going to tell you?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

It will give you a crude test of effective bandwidth. It was a reply to Lectrician's suggestion to do the same from a CMD window or shell.

 

[drgl]

Crude isn't the word, it will tell you nothing.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

So a few tests transferring a 500Gb file over the cabling will tell you nothing.

OK.

 

[drgl]

To the OP, buy yourself a continuity tester & punch down tool, test all links for continuity and away you go. There's no point doing any tests now, if the cables haven't been installed correctly(& there's a good chance of that!) there is nothing you can do now. What are you going to do if you get a pro in & they tell you the links are failing due to kinks in the cable for example?

 

[drgl]

So a few tests transferring a 500Gb file over the cabling will tell you nothing.

OK.

What time would you expect this to take over a PERFECT fully certified connection?

 

[ban-all-sheds]

What are you going to do if you get a pro in & they tell you the links are failing due to kinks in the cable for example?

Get the installer back to rectify his mistakes?