- JACKS-
female Category 5 or
Cat5e jacks greater
RJ-45 8-Position, (contacts). Usually mounted in the wall with a
face plate that allows you to snap the jack in and out.
For Low Voltage computer
network cables.
- HORIZONTAL
CABLE RUN -
Horizontal
Cable run, the basic link. This cable run is no longer than 90 meters, (295 Ft.).
Using Category 5e enhanced
cable is now becoming the accepted standard
for cabling. This is Category 5e
4 Pair UTP cable
or higher 4 Pair UTP solid copper
cable. This starts at the wall jack outlet's rear (on the 110 punch down
side of the jack), and runs to the equipment room or TC
(Telecommunications Closet). Here it is punched down onto the back of
the patch panel once again onto 110 punch downs.
-
HOME
NETWORKING CABLE -
 Home
Network Cable..Learn more click. This is being used by
builders and home installers and cablers everywhere. Home Networking
Pepermint
® and SOHO networking cable.
This is the hot ticket for easy cabling in homes and small office includes
more than one type of cable in one wrapper. Pull once pull it all...
-
HOME NETWORK
STRUCTURED MODULE HOUSINGS
These
modules with covers go into the walls or mount on the outside of
the wall on appropriate backing. These structured media panels house all
the different modules for hooking up Cat 5e and Video and Phone
connections from one central location in your home or office. Leviton
or PepX.
-
HUB - or a
Switch -
Hub or Router where all the cables come together and are
digitally converted to work with UTP cabling systems and distributed
along the network to the workstations. A switch simply put, is a more sophisticated
hub that distributes the packets of information sent to different
programmed network address where a
hub sends to all of the network
stations at once.
-
LAN - Local Area Network.
This is the whole network described.
-
OUT DOOR CABLE -
Out door cable
as in the name is for out door use. Do not mix this with indoor cable. If
you cabling outside these cables have special water blocking
characteristics in their manufacture that can withstand the demand of out
door cabling.
- PATCH CORDS
-
Patch cords
Stranded UTP cable
with male 8 position plugs on both ends. Also rated at Category 5 or what
ever bandwidth cable you are using. Make sure your patch cords are not
rated less then the other Horizontal run cables.
- PATCH
PANEL and MEDIA PANELS-
Patch
panel located in the
TC, has 110 punch downs in the rear and RJ-45
Jacks in the front. The rear is punched down with the Horizontal Cable
run and the front RJ-45 female jacks take a patch cord to the Hub or
Switch.
This is where all the horizontal run cables get terminated.
The front has the RJ-45's so you can plug and un-plug
patch cords into it
and move them around.
Media panels or structured media
panels are use in homes and buildings to bring all the wiring for the
video and network to one spot. Something like the phone company and the
electric company bringing everything into one panel box. Well, now you
have media panel boxes than can be
mounted in a rooms wall space or the garage of a closet. They close with a
cover and allow network and video wiring right into the box. Now there is
even more compact panels ones. So
there are plenty of choices.
- PLENUM CABLE -
This is the preferred cable over non-plenum cable. This
cable is used in return air spaces such as air conditioning and heating
duct air space and returns or pathways and under floors and in places
where the smoke could be circulated or mixed in during the possibility of
a fire. This cable is creates less toxic smoke if burned in a fire.
- PLUGS or MALE PLUGS -
RJ 45
plugs. Don't confuse the terms. A plug is not a jack.
 A plug is
the male plug that is used on the end of a patch cord, or on the end of
your telephone cord. It is called plug and not jack. A jack is the
female connector that you "plug" into.
- NETWORK
- The network can also be made up of
Category
5e cable
or
Category
6 cable (higher bandwidth cables). The Horizontal runs to the
workstation outlet can be many cable runs. A Star topology (fancy for
one run from the central patch panel out to each workstation.) Each from
the patch panel to the workstation outlet for many computer workstations
on the same network. (LAN) or (WAN). NOTE: EIA/TIA recommends that 2
cables be run instead of one, to each workstation, one for a voice jack and one
data jack.
- SERVER RACK -
The server
rack is where everything comes together. They come in all types and
sizes. From large jumbo Nema compliant
racks to small little swing out or wall mounted swing out racks. This is what separates a cable run from
a full blown neat site. Racks take shelves and places where you can mount
equipment. All your cable runs can go to the server rack and then branch
to all you computer and network equipment.
Mini racks are popular in
tight place and wall cabinets and wall mounted swing out racks can keep
the equipment room clear and open up when you want to work on them.
-
STP
- cable that is
Shielded Twisted Pair or also called Screened Twisted
Pair.
-
STAR TOPOLOGY
- Fancy
term meaning individual cable runs from the central point like the patch
panel in the TC to each workstation.
-
SURFACE MOUNT BOXES
-
 These
are used in place of a face plate or wall plate. They allow you to
easily mount your jacks or voice connectors to almost any surface like a
desk or wall smooth surface.
-
S-VIDEO Jacks
- these
S-Video jacks are used for video connections and have 110 punch downs
in the back for Category UTP cable to be punched directly to it. They pop
into a wall plate or surface box and make hooking up video simpler.
-
THE
SERVER
-
This is a computer. It
ties everything together making a network of your computers. They are
usually all wired to a patch panel and then a run is made to the server
computer. This computer can allow people to access programs and files as
if they were located on their own computer. So many computers can work on
the same files at the same time. This is where your files are stored for
transmission over the network to it's final destination, the
Workstations. The cord that runs from the
Hub-Switch to the server is
connected to the NIC in the server. (NIC- Network Interface
Card). Each
workstation has an NIC also. This allows things to talk to each other
from the PC's trough the cable. The NIC can also be a wireless type.
-
TC
- Telecommunications
Closet.
-
UTP
- cable that is Unshielded Twisted pair.
-
WAN
- Wide Area Network. Expanding
beyond just the local area network inside your building now branching
out beyond the one building to others or groups of other locations or
sites. Microwave and Satellite and fiber runs to other locations all
part of your wan.
- WALL JACK
OUTLET -
The
Wall Jack Outlet is an
RJ-45 8p8c (8 positions, 8
contacts)
female jack with a wall jack face plate that it snaps into. This jack
outlet is attached to the wall, usually cut into it, although a surface mount box which sits outside the wall is also available instead
of wall plates. The patch cord plugs into the front of the
RJ-45 female jack
and can be un-plugged if you need to move things around. The back of the
jack has a 110 punch down array that takes the 4 pairs of solid horizontal run cable and allows it to be
permanently
terminated there. Included are stuffer caps which are placed over the
top of the 110 jack punch down
connection for securing them further to
the jack. This side of the Wall outlet jack will go inside the
wall and you won't be able to see or change the cable anymore once it is
punched down and the face plate
screwed on. ( well, it can be removed by
un-screwing it and prying off the cable if you have to, but here we mean
you don't plug or un-plug it, it is more of a permanent set up.) This
inside the wall part of the Wall Outlet jack is the start of the
Horizontal Cable run that will extend to the TC or Equipment room.
- WALL OUTLET
or Wall
Jack Outlet - This is the
face plate and jack assembly. It holds the
RJ-45
Jack which is snapped into the face plate. It is then mounted into
the wall onto a wall box or a
box-eliminator plate. The rear
of the
jack winds up inside the wall with the permanent horizontal cable run
attached to it. The front of the jack has the patch cord plugged into it.
- WALL MOUNTED CABINETS and Sever Racks
- Wall mounted cabinets and
computer equipment cabinets can
be real job finishers. They can save space and take away the clutter in an
equipment room or a closet. Even in your basement or garage, is this is
where you setting things up. Can also double as just a storage cabinet for
almost anything. Some have very thin designs for even more space savings.
See thin equipment cabinets.
- WIRELESS ROUTER and WIRELESS NETWORKS
- This is the ticket. Everything seems to be
going broadband wireless these days. With things like WIFI networks and
Broadband networks people and laptops and more can be mobile. You can find
a WIFI hotspot in lots of areas today and if you have the access you can
travel and hook to the internet at the same time.
Wireless network connection and
enterprise wireless this is the super trend. If you know how to hook up a
wireless router you can connect to the internet from several computers all
over the airwaves. And with the wireless encryption it is reasonably
secure. Even right down to you keyboard and mouse being wireless. Now
that's pretty cool. But I still use caution.
- WORKSTATION
SIDE - Starting here is where the pc is
plugged into a wall
outlet with a stranded patch cord
(4 Pair UTP Stranded
cable), having male
RJ-45 8p8c plugs
on either end, (8 position, 8
contacts). The patch cord is
wired straight through, (the other patch cords are
configured the same way). The cord plugs into the workstation (pc) and the
other end into the Wall Jack Outlet.
- QUESTION:
WHAT ARE CATEGORIES?
Categories are a method of classifying UTP cables and related hardware within
specific performance criteria.
- Category 5e - Specifies cable and
connecting hardware with transmission characteristics up to 100 MHz. It
differs from Category 5 by having 3 dB (decibel) tighter NEXT
requirements and additional requirements for PS NEXT, ELFEXT, and PS ELFEXT.
- Category 6 - The draft of this document
specifies cable and connecting hardware with transmission characteristics up
to 200 MHz. In addition Category 6 has tighter insertion loss, NEXT, PS NEXT, ELFEXT and PS ELFEXT over Category 5e.
- QUESTION:
SO WHAT ARE UTP CABLES ANYWAY?
UTP cables
were developed and
designed to be used independent of the system application. Set transmission
performance criteria (Categories), have been established for the various grade
of UTP cables.
- QUESTION:
WHAT IS OUTDOOR CABLE? click here..
- QUESTION:
IS CATEGORY CABLE LENGTH IMPORTANT?
Cable Handling -
Length:
The maximum horizontal length is 90 meters (295 feet). 10 Meters is allowed for
cords in the work area, and for patch cords or jumpers in the telecommunications
closet. The maximum backbone cable length of 90 meters (295 feet). This 90 meter
length assumes that 5 meters (16 feet) are needed at each end for equipment
cables connecting to the backbone.
- QUESTION:
HOW HARD CAN I TUG ON THE CABLE?
Pulling Tension -
Maximum pulling tension for a 4 pair horizontal cable is 25 LBF. Excessive
pulling tension may occur during installation. Once the dame is done, reversing
the effect may not be sufficient enough to correct the problem and cable
replacement is recommended. Intermediate cable pulls within the overall cable
run may be necessary to avoid exceeding the maximum pulling force.
- Over Stressing -
Eliminate cable stress caused by tension in suspended cable runs and tightly
cinched cable bundles. Excessive cable loading or stress can also occur if a
cable is incorrectly suspended in a cable run.
- Avoid Walking - or stepping on high
performance cable. Avoid running over high performance cable with hand trucks
or forklifts. This can exert excessive force on the cable distorting cable
geometry, or crushing the pairs resulting in electrical shorts.
- Avoid Staples - avoid the use of staples,
either from a staple gun or mounting in a traditional manner with hammer.
These can excessive force on the cable and distort the pair geometry.
- Maintain Spacing - maintain a minimum
spacing between cables and sources of EMI such as florescent lights or
unshielded power lines.
- Termination - Most modular jacks have the
IDC connectors color coded for pair conductor assignment to either 568A or
568B wiring methods. Pin pair assignments are outlined for 568A and 568B.
Maintain the same pin pair combination throughout the installation. Changing
pin pair assignment can result in crossed pairs; consistency is the key. The
modular jacks and cross connect blocks employ IDC connectors to complete the
circuit between the cable and the hardware. A punch down tool equipped with
the appropriate blade (110 or 66) is recommended to complete the termination
and properly seat the conductor. Terminate with connecting hardware of the
same category or higher.
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