You’ve made the decision to move into a new office space, signed a 10 year lease and all that’s left before you move in is to find a data cabling contractor to install data ports to your desired locations. The general contractor or leasing agent makes you aware that selecting a data cabling contractor is your responsibility but the only thing that you know about data cabling is that you want fast internet speeds and prefer the blue cable over the white.
You begin your google search looking for data cabling companies in your area and bring in a few of them to provide quotes. Since this is one of the last steps preventing you from getting in your new space and most of your budget has been spent on the move, new furniture and new equipment, you realize that your remaining budget has to be stretched to provide cabling for the office.
This is a scenario that we’re seeing more often with all the new construction in north Texas and the uninformed are being taken advantage of by data cabling contractors who should know better. Today’s businesses are opting for hi-speed internet connections via Fiber and Cable modems to power their VoIP phone systems, cloud applications and video conferences not knowing that the main artery that carries their hi-speed signal is being hampered by an improperly installed cabling infrastructure.
Here are two (2) examples that we’ve had to troubleshoot in as many weeks; Company A calls The Brass Effect because their internet speeds over wi-fi were literally 25 times faster than over their wired ethernet connections (wall jacks), after using our data cabling certifier we informed Company A that over half the cables failed and were not using the recommended 568B settings. In addition, the "Cat 5e" cabling that had been installed was for “residential” use and not commercial. Company A did not want to replace the data cabling at this time but after our remediation efforts of the existing cable, we were able to increase their Internet speeds so that the wired connection was only 5 times slower than the WiFi connection.
Company B gives us a call stating that out of the 8 data cables installed (in a new building) only 1 of those cables worked and they were having to run the business on the WiFi connection. They had called the Internet Service Provider on three (3) separate occasions to complain that the service was working improperly to which the 3rd technician was able to pinpoint that the data cabling had been installed incorrectly. The Brass Effect (TBE) went on-site and was able to show the client that although the cabling was “new”, the data cabling contractor had installed the less expensive “riser” cabling to all of his locations. Riser or CMR cabling is not to be used in “drop ceilings” within commercial buildings and is a fire hazard! This client wanted to do it right and agreed to remove the less expensive riser cable and install a code approved “plenum” cable instead.
Most companies have no idea the difference between Cat 5e, Cat 6, Cat 6A, CMR, CMP, Riser, Plenum or enhanced data cabling BUT WE DO! Your data infrastructure IS CRITICAL to a proper running data network. If your data cables are not of the right type, right length, right construction or the right category rating, your applications and performance will be degraded because of it.
We like to say that there are plenty of data cabling companies out there that can offer a lower price but at The Brass Effect we’re certified data cabling specialists as well as IT Professionals so we believe we have an advantage when it comes to recommending and installing the proper data cabling infrastructure for your business needs.
We’re not saying that you are or have been swindled by your data cabling contractor but after reading this article……you decide.
