Beginning Network

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AMDbuilder

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 16, 2006
Messages
203
A friend of mine just moved into a new office a few days ago and hired someone else to run all the wires for a network. The friend was very strict on one point that he wanted every connection tested and this hired guy was oh i've done this a million times don't talk down to me ya da da... (I'm sure we have all meet the type)...

Anyways before I get back home for break I am talking with the friend and he is like would you be interested in a little side work when you get back to town. It turns out the guy did a good job pulling all the wires, but you know that "testing" part... Well he kinda forgot as every one of the connections run was wrong and none of them worked!

Oh, my friend thought ahead a little and pulled 5 lines to each point (10 points) so a total of 50 lines run throughout this place one for phone, computer, a printer, and a VOIP Camera (well printer/camera is what he told me, but it's likely just expansion plans for down the road)

Anyways so I spent the last two days in a little closet getting comfy with a boat load of cables and well here are a few pictures of said closet. Sorry I forgot to take the first few out of shock for the wire job so no pre SOS shots :(

Oh, sorry they are such poor quality, but I only had iPhone with me so it's what I got... better than nothing right?

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So you can see the wall mount for some of the panels and most of the lines (organized by point - phone lines on left)
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The first panel all punched and mounted... and my poor eye measuring skills showing...
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The guy was nice enough to label the ends granted I didn't know if they were correct... I assumed (yea bad idea) and was glad they all went to the correct spot granted which was which on the other ends wasn't always correct.
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The guy did have a chart of the CORRECT order for the wires (one of 5 given him)
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His original ends all of which vary in order... You would think 1 of 50 lines would work! That and notice they are plugs vs the more "correct" way of patch panels... (I suggested panels and friend jumped at it vs hanging plugs)
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My "velcro" to keep lines sorted and lines for the main station... This is a business so he needed that station working 5 days ago... Also added another panel bracket for phones. (day two)
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It looks so purdy! :D
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"Cable Raceway" Creative use, but it works..
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Getting smarter on how to get the correct length for the connectors
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The current state with phone ends run to the correct location for stamping Friday. Also hanging switch (Good placement considering the low budget)
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A half way thought out managed cable order... Yea it's really bad by most standards, but it's 1000 times better than before and it works! (That and it's only my first install where I didn't have much say in the original placement of things)
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The cable gear (Day two and 2nd router... comcast should be shot for such crappy gear)
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The required lights shot :)

Anyways I am thankful that I got called in to bring this network to a semi usable status and that I get to use it for a mini lan party tomorrow :cool:

AMDbuilder
 
i've only very quickly scanned through the pictures, but wtf wasn't a proper cabinet and patch panels installed?! with respect, that's gashtastic!
 
lol...

This is so getto! I may have just got a rack though, it gives you the ability to add things at a later date. Even a small 14U rack / comms cabinet would have done.

even so, well done you did a good job with what you had.

Just on a side note, I would advise you to get asmall UPS for the switch etc, just incase.
 
Glad to hear everyone enjoys... I just wish I had more installs to take/share pictures.

Jay, a UPS is going to be installed in the near future. I think it's hidden in one of the many boxes laying around the place or it might still be in the old place with some of the other gear that still needs to be moved to the new location.

I know he is getting a newer switch so he can get more of the ports up and running and if the UPS isn't big enough he will be getting a newer rackmount unit on my suggestion as I still want to get him into a rack. I know he is sharing space with another biz that will have a few servers so having a rack would be a nice thing, but all in good time (and when there is budget).

I hope to have some more shots this weekend with the phones punched and the network finally hooked up with some traffic (and more lights :))
 
looks okday, think you should have went with a normal 24 port leviton patch or 48 port leviton. not those quickport ones, and i would have also run the wires on the same side
 
looks good my friend.... given what you had handed down to you.

I'd definitely tell your friend tocontact the BBB on this other guy and toss him a formal letter stating, "you're job will be cut by the amount we had to pay "AMDBUILDER" for fixing the nightmareyou started'.

no way i would pay that other guy full price still.... 50 lines pulled is still a pretty penny... I'm guessing $5k or so for the pulls and 'terminals'?!?!?
 
Yeah looks good. However for the future (and I'm sure lots of people are going to tell you this) either a small wall mount rack or instead of using those little weird mounts get a little 4u wall mount and a 48 port patch panel (punch style). That would look really nice.

Just my 2 cents, but that will work what you have done there. As long as the runs are labeled correctly and everything is working then you'll be good. Prettiness is just next step.

PS - I love the zip tied switch to the pipe...hahaha.
 
mechanical forthought best, good thing things are labeled. My old man said make it look like you would want others to see it.
 
I just got a few more pictures of the progression...

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Jerry rigged wireless switch hanging from the bottom bracket.
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The original run sheet of where all the wires go.
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A quick mockup of where things should be wired on the wall ports
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A little dust...
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A new switch to help cover all the ports. $70 from Circuit City as they are closing up shop in town. Oh, and the D-link died a few days after getting new switch from what I hear.
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The smaller panels were used because they were in stock at the local home depot and the friend needed things up 5 days ago so I didn't have the time to order the proper gear/ better gear online. Ideally i would have loved to do 48 port panels in a small rack for the experience and to have a more professional setup.

The other person did/will be getting a letter stating that xxx amount was deducted from their invoice for my cleanup work.

As for the odd wiring of the second panel... Well it was going to be run with the rest of the wires until i noticed I cut the lines a little short... :( I did get things figured out for the rest of them tho!

Anyways I have a request in for more pictures to see how bad he wrecked things after I left so hopefully more p0rn later :D
 
atleast get some metal wire shelfs. ziptie switches to a plumbing pipe?
the other guy that installed should be paid just for the pulls nothing else.

i would have had him take back those crappy patch panel and just invest another 300-500 in parts to do it right:
wall mount rack
dell rackmount switches
normal rackmount patch
refurbups.com apc
 
could have newegged the gear =) for overnight.

get some wire shelfes for the switches, will be a 15 buck purchase that will make it lot cleaner.
 
Yeah I can't get over the zip tied switches and the random cables going to the switches. Use ties with eyes or something to get those to the switches unless that is just temporary.
 
I'm not sure what kind of joy you might get out hanging network equipment by zip ties but it sure doesn't look good. If you don't want to get even a small wall mount rack to mount that stuff then here is another option

We have done this in the field when there isn't room for a small rack. For the switch you could use the mounting brackets but turn them sideways to be able to mount them to the wall. Use drywall anchors then attach it to the wall.
Also, for the wireless AP or router that's there, there are eyelets on the back of the router (95% of all little home routers I've worked with have that), find screws big enough and same idea, use anchors then attach it right to the wall.
Once that is done, use ties with eyes or velcro or something like that to clean up those cables and route them properly to the switch/router from the patch panel.
 
Looks good except for the switches.

As soon as a fire marshall sees it he will demand that they be removed. (If that is a water line of any kind).
 
Not bad but I have seen better. First off, those patch blocks are designed to go vertically, not horizontally. I hope you put your 66 blocks for telephone going vertically. Even in a small job, I prefer to use a wall mounted bracket and regular patch panel. I then just mount the switch on the wall with the included bracket. Keeps everything neat and I just use 3 foot cables. I also hope you are going to tone all the cables out to see where they go. I never rely on someone else's labeling.
 
Nice cleanup.. After going in a cleaning up someone elses work it prepares you on what you need to do for your next job. Just some hints, always make sure that your client has the money to do it right. 2nd, Always be an example. 3, always label your cables. 4, Never cut the CABLES to short... ( hide extra in the walls "service loops") 5, Always test it. 6, never half ass it, meaning, get the gear to make it look like it is a wiring closest. " I tell the customer it extends the life of the products if mounted properly. "
 
Looks decent.

Rackmount=$$$ & Noise. I think with a decent shelf in there, it'll be fine. I guess I just have a hard time spending the money on rackmount gear when most small businesses can get by w/o. I know at work its usually what do we need vs what we would like to have.

However, I've gotten my work to move further away from the cheap shit.
 
how does a rackmount = noise??????????????????

rackmount is just sopmething to keep your gear properly mounted, not relying on zip ties and other items that dont really hold your hear safely in place, with a rack someone trips on a cable, it wont rip the plumming from your wall and cause a flood..lol
 
MrGuvernment said:
how does a rackmount = noise??????????????????

rackmount is just sopmething to keep your gear properly mounted, not relying on zip ties and other items that dont really hold your hear safely in place, with a rack someone trips on a cable, it wont rip the plumming from your wall and cause a flood..lol
Click to expand...

Rackmounted gear is not consumer level so it is normally more expensive because the products have much greater levels of features. In addition the products that are rackmounted are often louder because in production the manufacturer doesn't worry about how loud the fans are since people normally keep server racks in a seperate area that the volume of gear doesn't matter in.
 
CaseyBlackburn said:
Rackmounted gear is not consumer level so it is normally more expensive because the products have much greater levels of features. In addition the products that are rackmounted are often louder because in production the manufacturer doesn't worry about how loud the fans are since people normally keep server racks in a seperate area that the volume of gear doesn't matter in.
Click to expand...

They do make shelves for 19" racks. Pretty much anything can fit onto a 19" shelf. I flat out refuse to wall mount anything anymore. At the very lease I will throw up a 6U wallmount rack with a 24port patch panel and a shelf at the bottom. As for telco, everything we do gets done using BIX, whether it be done using a wallmount 10A/10C, or a 19" rack mount module.

Most companies can afford to spring the relatively small amount extra to do the job properly. We are not willing to throw our company's reputation on the line because a client cant afford to do it properly. Those companies (usually very small businesses) can get one of the electrical companies or computer shops to do their hack-job for them. When they call us down the road to do an upgrade, they usually realize their mistake and do it our way.

.
 
Dawizman said:
They do make shelves for 19" racks. Pretty much anything can fit onto a 19" shelf. I flat out refuse to wall mount anything anymore. At the very lease I will throw up a 6U wallmount rack with a 24port patch panel and a shelf at the bottom. As for telco, everything we do gets done using BIX, whether it be done using a wallmount 10A/10C, or a 19" rack mount module.

Most companies can afford to spring the relatively small amount extra to do the job properly. We are not willing to throw our company's reputation on the line because a client cant afford to do it properly. Those companies (usually very small businesses) can get one of the electrical companies or computer shops to do their hack-job for them. When they call us down the road to do an upgrade, they usually realize their mistake and do it our way.

.
Click to expand...

+1 :)
 
Dawizman said:
They do make shelves for 19" racks. Pretty much anything can fit onto a 19" shelf. I flat out refuse to wall mount anything anymore. At the very lease I will throw up a 6U wallmount rack with a 24port patch panel and a shelf at the bottom. As for telco, everything we do gets done using BIX, whether it be done using a wallmount 10A/10C, or a 19" rack mount module.

Most companies can afford to spring the relatively small amount extra to do the job properly. We are not willing to throw our company's reputation on the line because a client cant afford to do it properly. Those companies (usually very small businesses) can get one of the electrical companies or computer shops to do their hack-job for them. When they call us down the road to do an upgrade, they usually realize their mistake and do it our way.

.
Click to expand...
I know that, I was just explaining the basic assumption between rackmount and noise + money.
 
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