29 Jan Computer Wiring is Slowing Your Network Down – So Fix It

Many times the more users on a network can cause the entire system to be slow.Is this due to lack of bandwidth to download reports or cruising the net? Time to upgrade to the latest switch or router? No, it’s your computer wiring that is slowing your network down!

Of course if you are adding another department that is posting online or heavy media crossing thru your network than bandwidth might be an issue. However most times in the Philadelphia area we troubleshoot networks before we suggest a fix.

The network cables running the entire network might be up to par. The cheap installation team found on Craigslist or the lowest bidder might have used the wrong cable or the most found reason for bad cabling – Faulty Terminations.

Typical Problems That Are Slowing Your Network Down

The Patch Panel in the server room is the first step to a healthy network.

 

Let’s start with the Patch Panel in your server room.
Any network cabling tech will tell you the more wires coming into the server room the harder to punch down the wires. As you can see from the example picture in the left the wiring is exposed.

Typical code installation is to have the jacket all the way into the panel. The left example shows a culprit for crosstalk, or bleeding, of the signals coming across the cooper wiring.

As well make sure the wire ties are not too tightly secured as this even might break the cooper inside the wiring.

Patch, or jumper, cables are the most overlooked part of the project.

 

Staying in the server room, let’s talk about Patch, or Jumper, Cables. Hands down the most overlooked part of any project or network. Once you let one cable out of any type of cable management plan you have lost control of it. Outside vendors are the worst at just plugging in a cable for a “fix” or temp solve. On this example of the server we saw many patch cables with bad terminations into the RJ-45 heads. Thus causing a bad or weak signal.

Keep in mind cabling like CAT5 or CAT6 uses 4 pairs of wiring. Most switches can carry a signal or packets to the workstation using only 3 pairs, however causing a slow connection. Make sure to include several patch cables near the server for future use. Unless you like hunting down a cable in a mess.

Hey IT Guy… A new hire is coming in next week and need a connection next to the copier or something.

We understand temp connections tend to end up as long term. Sure easy way to connect a computer is just to run a wire straight from the server room and poke a hole into the wall. Long term affects are the cable is not properly secure and even a code violation in the building, perhaps causing fines. The proper way is secure the wiring into a caddy into the wall. Then jack the wiring and a secure patch cable from the wall into the computer.

Can you afford a lawsuit if someone trips over the wiring? This example we will not even get into network performance with a wire that is probably rolled over with a chair or stepped a few times.

Various ways to secure or protect exposed computer wiring.

 

Warehouse or exposed computer wiring can be and should be protected all the times. Long runs in a warehouse can use conduit or even lower cost flex pipes. Jacks, the end locations, can use gang boxes to within a bump or dirt from the extreme locations.

Various methods from top of the line, and budget, and affordable fixes can protect your investment of the computer wiring.

Again, with a proper network cable installation your network will provide stronger connections, thus providing faster speeds and responses.

Fail safe way to install computer wiring is with a tester.

 

The best, and really only way, to install your network computer wiring is to use a tester once done.Even troubleshooting a slow network is a great way to see why. One local example in Philadelphia was one smaller network with heavy demands in the retail sector.

Of testing 22 locations, connections, only 7 of the cables passed our Fluke tester specs. Many of the connections had poorly terminated connections into the jacks and RJ-45 heads. Also using a network monitor on our laptops using Microsoft’s Network Monitor we noticed a huge amount of bad packets. The faulty wiring was one of the reason of the slow network performance.

So complete your network cable install with a stress test or any kind of reportable tester. We use a various assortment to certify our cabling that is done by us, Bridge Cable.

We encourage any company in the Philadelphia area or New Jersey or New York to call us directly at 877-832-1206. We offer a wide of network cabling services from installation to troubleshooting. We hope this piece has helped you to invest your computer wiring, your network is going to be slow if your physical layer is faulty.

Thank you for reading! @bridgecable