Published on May 28th, 2015 | by Guest

Common Network Cabling Mistakes that Would Cost Your Business

Cabling may turn out as the scariest task while laying down an IT network in office. As a victim myself, I now find myself discouraging people from taking it in their own hand. It was my sincere effort to save money while connecting computers, routers and other components at my newly opened Sydney office. Soon I realized that everything turned out messy, network performance was not up to the mark and I had to shell out double the money I saved to get the things corrected. After observing the procedures followed by the experts I hired, here I would like to share the common cabling mistakes a layman is bound to make.

Running network cables parallel and close to the power lines! My aim was to create a common corridor for the two lines to achieve a neat look. Little I knew how the electrical signals would interfere and cause interference in the network transmissions. Noises and crawling transmission rates were what I forced my staff to cope up with. The cabling guy while fixing the things informed additionally that the network cables should be installed away from the electrical fixtures and devices as well.

Be careful when working with conduits! First, electrical and networking cables should be installed in separated conduits to prevent interference and fire hazards. Second, make it a point to choose oversized conduits, focusing on your future needs and not just the present requirements. Third, choose waterproof conduits as your cables need to be kept dry without failing.

When the experts in network cabling in Sydney inspected my network, they informed that many of the cables were overstretched. How did it happen? Because, I kept them hanging rather than fixing them to a support. It was now that I came to know the reason for the network going slow frequently. Hanging cables are stretched by their own weight when left hanging. And, it degrades their quality.

Despite receiving recommendations from few of my friends, I made the mistake of not labelling the cables. As you would expect, it added to my woes and that too in routine. Each time I unplugged the cables and tried to put them back, I would fail repeatedly, getting frustrated and wasting a lot of precious time. The first thing the rescue team did was to label the cables at both ends.

Cables must be kept cool – another important thing I unfortunately ignored. Design the network in a way and make proper arrangements so that you cooling systems work the best in this direction.

All’s well that ends well! Now everything has fallen at place and I enjoy a smoothly-running network!

Author Bio:

Hunter Weston: The author is a small business owner in Sydney and an enthusiastic blogger. His posts deal with many important aspects of network services and IT support in Sydney that he hires frequently for his own office.

Tags: business, cabling, common, mistakes, network