Interface Technologies NW Blog » structured cabling

Should I re-use existing cabling?

andy — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:10:08 +0000

We’ve seen it in the last recession and we’ve seen it in this one—“I’ve leased a new office space and we are moving in a few months, can I re-use the existing cabling that was left behind by the previous tenant?” Of course the short answer is “sure” however our team always wants to help you evaluate this structured cabling before making that decision on your own. Unlike many of our competitors, we’ll take a look at it to see if it can be re-used. Of course we’d like the “new wiring project” normally guaranteed by a tenant moving into a new space and yes, WA State law prohibits the previous tenant from leaving their cabling behind, but we’d be happy to take a look at the pre-existing cabling. Questions we ask you or ask ourselves are; What are your needs for performance? Are you moving into the exact same offices/cubicles or are you changing the floor plan significantly? How much moving of cables will be necessary and will they reach these new locations? How old is the cabling infrastructure and will it satisfy your needs? Is it well labeled? Will it pass inspection? If your firm is going to run a Gigabit Ethernet network or VOIP, and the existing cabling is poorly ran Category 5 cable, ITN would likely suggest replacement. If your firm is tearing down many of the walls and re-designing much of the office space, it is likely that “re-using existing cabling” will begin to cost as much or more than installing a new AMP NetConnect structured cabling system.

Is a “10Gig rated” AMP cabling solution right for your Seattle business?

andy — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 00:59:37 +0000

The manufacturers and standards body have been working for several years on the 10GIG standard for copper and the associated copper product(s). Most manufacturers have a 10Gig solution now in 2009 however the differences between the products and the construction of the cable is more evident than ever before as we test copper’s limits. If your company is relocating and you are considering a 10Gig cabling solution for your next facility, we think there are a couple questions to ask yourself. Is your firm running primarily Gigabit Ethernet (1000BaseT) currently? Are your users fairly heavy bandwidth users? Is your next lease longer than 5-7 years or will you own the facility with intention of being in place for a period of 10 years or more? If the answer to any or all of these questions is “yes”, then ITN would recommend looking at a 10GIG cabling infrastructure like AMP NETCONNECT XG.

ITN’s approach to a AMP NetConnect cable plant and termination

andy — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 00:54:39 +0000

Since 2003 ITN has recommended to our clients that they install, or consider installing, an “all Cat 5e” or “all Cat 6” infrastructure. Most folks call this style of structured cabling “Universal” and it allows any and every cable in the facility to be used for voice, data, video, scanner, network printer, fax, postage, IP camera, etc.. by simply moving a patch cord! And it doesn’t matter if you have a state of the art AVAYA VOIP Telephone system or a 15 year old key/PBX telephone system, with a couple of 25 pairs and an extra patch panel or two, your new structured cabling solution can accommodate any system. Having a Universal cabling system also allows a very simple transition to an AVAYA VOIP phone system (AVAYA IP Office) in the future. The alternative to this would be to continue to have your “voice cables” terminate to wall mounted 66 blocks or 110 blocks and your “data cables” terminate to patch panel. The way to look at this is that they are only data cables because they go to the patch panel and only voice cause they go to the wall field. If they were all AMP Netconnect Category 6 cables and they all ran to patch panel, you could utilize any cable for any type of connectivity now and in the future.

AMP NetConnect—A Better Solution

andy — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:50:29 +0000

Of course there are a lot of manufacturers of structured cabling equipment and connectivity components to choose from. And they are all present here in the Seattle/Bellevue market but there are some key reasons that ITN chose to work with AMP NetConnect. After over ten years in this industry, the first reason that comes to mind is that the AMP NetConnect is an “end to end” cabling solution—always has been, always will be. Years ago there were partnerships between Commscope/Ortronics, Panduit/Belden, Leviton and I can’t remember, Siemons and ?, plus a new rep every six months or the same rep visiting you to sell you a different product or different product combo. We don’t like to confuse our clients and we know that AMP’s structured cabling solution is one of the best out there and since they make most of their own gear here in the US, none of that will change. Engineering, a US engineered solution testing their equipment end to end for proper performance versus the groups that marry up to a new partner each year. RoHS is also important as I believe that AMP NetConnect was one of the first to utilize RoHS standards in manufacturing (Reduction of Hazardous Substances) and a Lead-Free cable manufacturing process which is important since we are surrounded by our networks, all day every day. It doesn’t hurt that AMP NetConnect is a part of Tyco Electronics which is a global corporation traded on the NYSE (TEL).

Early Stage Design of your AMP NetConnect Structured Cabling

andy — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:36:39 +0000

Around the office, we like to poke fun at the car commercial phrase that goes something like “if you don’t call me today, I can’t save you any money” but there is some truth in this statement. Our cabling design team has been referred into lots of projects after a vast majority of the space layout/architectural decisions have been made or in some cases, the construction project is already under way and beginning our portion is only a week away. In most cases, these late starts works out fine as the standard facility has a 100% drop tile ceiling, adequate floor access/power poles for feeding modular furniture, and server rooms/termination closets that are usually sized just large enough. ITN wants to learn about our clients projects as early as possible though because not every project or structure is the same. For the projects that we are brought in on late that are different than the standard office, occasionally brand new sheet rock will need to be removed, conduits re-sized, or other extensive and expensive repairs will be required. Please involve our team early so that we can put our AMP NetConnect design training to work early for you!