cat6 and wiring
Discussion
i've been looking through the archives here, there is some good information on cat6 etc.
Basically, we have just bought a new office, it is brand new, we are the first people to be in there. There is the usual trunking under the floor, which they have only wired for power at the moment. In a masterstoke, a fitted carpet has then been laid over everything, which makes feeding cables difficult, as there are some right angles in the trunking. It's not a huge problem as the carpet is horrible so we will most likely be ripping it up anyway to put down some wood flooring. Obviously this will be the ideal time to put in the network/phone sockets. In each little trapdoor there are 4 spaces available, so I'm guessing two phone and two network is probably the best thing to do, or will it be possible to fit 2 sockets in each hole (I would guess the holes are 1"x2" in size). All the components seem relatively cheap, I would have thought £200 will probably be enough. The main question is whether I go to the hassle of doing it myself and learning how to do all the RJ45 stuff etc, or whether we get someone in to do it. What's it likely to cost for a Pro, and how easy will it be for me to do it?
Basically, we have just bought a new office, it is brand new, we are the first people to be in there. There is the usual trunking under the floor, which they have only wired for power at the moment. In a masterstoke, a fitted carpet has then been laid over everything, which makes feeding cables difficult, as there are some right angles in the trunking. It's not a huge problem as the carpet is horrible so we will most likely be ripping it up anyway to put down some wood flooring. Obviously this will be the ideal time to put in the network/phone sockets. In each little trapdoor there are 4 spaces available, so I'm guessing two phone and two network is probably the best thing to do, or will it be possible to fit 2 sockets in each hole (I would guess the holes are 1"x2" in size). All the components seem relatively cheap, I would have thought £200 will probably be enough. The main question is whether I go to the hassle of doing it myself and learning how to do all the RJ45 stuff etc, or whether we get someone in to do it. What's it likely to cost for a Pro, and how easy will it be for me to do it?
We used to run only Cat5 (I guess the same would work for cat6) from the patch panels to the floor points. The phone was run over cat5 as well, with a RJ45to RJ11 adaptor plugging into the floor point.
That way you can use the points as you see fit for each floor panel.
There are some adaptors here: www.deltacom.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Telephone_Adapters_and_Accessories_23.html
I'm sure you cuold find cheaper though.
That way you can use the points as you see fit for each floor panel.
There are some adaptors here: www.deltacom.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Telephone_Adapters_and_Accessories_23.html
I'm sure you cuold find cheaper though.
plasticpig said:
I would flood wire it with CAT6. You can get high density outlets that give you 4 jacks per faceplate. If you want to save money lay all the cable yourself and purchase the necessary outlets, cabinet and patch panels yourself. Then get someone in to do the termination.
that's 128 ports - maybe overkill for a 870 sqft office, we only have about 5 computers at the moment!
Edited by dcw@pr on Saturday 28th October 15:15
Plotloss said:
If you went with trunking rather than floor boxes it would be easily expandable down the line...
its already built in to the floor, so might as well use it. I guess we could lay other stuff in future if needed - or wouldn't it be possible to leave drag lines (or whatever they are called) in there as well?
BliarOut said:
Bend radii! If you're running cat 6 it's imperative that you can get a smooth cable entry run otherwise it'll fail when you come to test it.... 5E has less stringent requirements when it comes to surface containment and box entry.
i was waiting for you to turn up and say something like that
You posted a link in a previous thread which I guess went over how to lay Cat6, but the link is dead now
dcw@pr said:
plasticpig said:
I would flood wire it with CAT6. You can get high density outlets that give you 4 jacks per faceplate. If you want to save money lay all the cable yourself and purchase the necessary outlets, cabinet and patch panels yourself. Then get someone in to do the termination.
that's 128 ports - maybe overkill for a 870 sqft office, we only have about 5 computers at the moment!
Edited by dcw@pr on Saturday 28th October 15:15
No such thing as overkill!!
rich1231 said:
dcw@pr said:
plasticpig said:
I would flood wire it with CAT6. You can get high density outlets that give you 4 jacks per faceplate. If you want to save money lay all the cable yourself and purchase the necessary outlets, cabinet and patch panels yourself. Then get someone in to do the termination.
that's 128 ports - maybe overkill for a 870 sqft office, we only have about 5 computers at the moment!
Edited by dcw@pr on Saturday 28th October 15:15
No such thing as overkill!!
Definitely.
Given the cost is negilible (for 4 runs per outlet rather than, say, 2) in terms of cable, you might as well. While you've got the floor up. When I buy my next house I'll be flood wiring cat5e with at least 8 runs per room (plus coax but that's not really a concern for offices) simply because it's a LOT easier to run extra cable at the time rahter than redo later.
Guesstimate what you need. Then quadruple it.
You won't regret it
OK, so I guess it would be no bad thing to do as many wires as possible. I will have to check and see whether I can fit in the whole 128. It does raise another question though - I don't want to have to buy a 128 port gigabit switch, so what do I do with all the loose ends? and what is the recommended way of labelling the cables so they dont get mixed up?
dcw@pr said:
OK, so I guess it would be no bad thing to do as many wires as possible. I will have to check and see whether I can fit in the whole 128. It does raise another question though - I don't want to have to buy a 128 port gigabit switch, so what do I do with all the loose ends? and what is the recommended way of labelling the cables so they dont get mixed up?
You terminate all the cables in a patch panel and then patch the active ports into a switch.
A 24 port gigabit switch is around £200-£250 so if you only have 24 or less active ports, this is your only active equipment outlay at the start.
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