What to buy for a network cabling job

Need to cable a building with twisted-pair cabling? Here’s a shopping checklist of what you will need!

Before you buy…

1.) Get a schematic of the building! It won’t do anyone good to go buy and cut a thousand feet of cable only to realize that you either did not buy enough cabling, or made the drops too short. If a schematic is not available, measure the distance you will need from the server room, hub, etc… (plus more for slack, obstacles within the walls, etc), and most importantly….don’t forget to measure the drop from the ceiling to the floor!

2.) A good planner will always see where there will be more noise than others. UTP (Unshielded Twisted-Pair) is cheaper, and doesn’t have that extra insulated jacket that STP (Shielded Twisted-Pair) Most of the time (at least almost all business I’ve visited) use UTP. However in some situations, that extra coating can really help (especially around large industrial machines that make a lot of noise and interference).

3.) Know your country/state/province/city, etc.. fire codes!! In some places it’s mandatory to use different cables that are fire-rated (plenum-rated cable). Now, the big difference is that plenum-rated cable will not burn as quickly, nor will it emit toxic fumes. The kicker is though that it’s expensive.  And not just ‘$5 more bucks’ kinda expensive, it’s twice the price (or more) generally for it! So make sure you are 100% when it comes to deciding if you need plenum-rated cable (For another tip on buying, check out my previous post).

4.) Once you know how long your drops will need to be, it’s time to take the company credit card (or your own) out and go shopping! Unfortunately, we’re going to need a lot more than just a box of cable. And no…we’re not going to be purchasing an Xbox360, a brand new laptop, or that expensive bottle of Sherry from 1775 to impress that date tonight….

We are however are going to need the following:

• A box of cable. You did measure right?? Good. Now it’s time to get the right type of cable. Go with the minimum that your network supports, but plan for expandability. (e.g. if your network supports speeds up to 100mb/1Gb, you can go with cat5e, however, if you plan on installing gigabit NICs in all the workstations later, it may be a better choice to go with the faster cat6, even though it won’t be utilized fully until later).
• Lots of RJ-45 (a.k.a. 8P8C) connectors. Generally you can get a bag full of them for a reasonable price.
• Wire stripper, to strip the insulation from the wire.
• A Crimp Tool (or crimper). This is one tool that ranges wildly in price. From a cheap $5 one to a nice $150 one. The cheap ones aren’t even worth looking at, get a good solid one, it will outperform and outlast the cheap ones by a landslide.
  

  Crimp Tool

• Punchdown tool. Only used if your going to be installing cable into a punch panel. While it’s not a necessity (you can punch down without the tool), it does make life a heck of a lot easier on you (and your hands) if you get one!
• A good cordless drill (with multiple drill bits), to make the cuts in the walls, or where needed.

True story: My company used to use lead pipes to make holes. While it’s cheap. It’s horrible looking, messy, and very unprofessional!!

• A Cable fishing rod, to help with the cable drop while working between the walls.
• A ladder. Unless you can fly.
• A Network Cable tester to check the if the electricity is flowing correctly, wires are not mixed up, and if there are any shorts in the line.

Cable Tester

• Toner and Probe (Or ‘Fox and Hound’, though not be confused with the Disney 1981 movie). Not a necessity unless you have a bunch of unmarked wires in the sever room and can’t find where the cable leads to.

That’s my ‘building network toolkit’.  I’d love to hear what you would add to the list, or what you use!