Nick's Technical Tips

CAT6 Cabling

Did you know?
Maximum length of CAT6 cable length from Patch Panel to Module should not be more than 90 Metres!

Did you know?
The maximum total distance using CAT6 Patch Leads on any single connection must not exceed 10 Metres!

Did you know?
The CAT6 Cable Sheath should only be stripped back to a maximum of 25mm!

Did you know?
No more than 100 CAT5E or CAT6 Cables should be bundled together at anytime!

Did you know?
The seperation distance from any CAT6 Cable to a Power Cable should not be less than 127mm to avoid interefence!

Did you know?
CAT6 Cable should should be bent less than 90-degrees from the parallel plane to the connecting device, i.e module

Wireless Networking

Did you know?
Maximum length of CAT6 cable length from Patch Panel to Module should not be more than 90 Metres!
To reduce Wireless Access Point confliction, it's a good idea to set each Access Point at least to Channels apart!

Make sure Wireless Access Points (APs) do not share the same Wireless Channel (frequency), as a rule of thumb make sure they are at least two numbers apart so to improve wireless signal quality.

For maximum wireless security, use MAC address filtering and WPA2 Wireless encryption, as well as setting the SSID on the wireless Access Point or Router set for non Broadcasting.

802.11n technologies come as two flavours! 802.11n 'lite' runs at 150Mbps, 802.11n runs at 300Mbps. However in practice most users will not notice the difference between the two!

For ideal placement of your wireless Access Point or Router, make sure they are situated as high as possible in a room. This is because if people (humans!) get in the way of the signal, they can greatly reduce the signal quality because Humans are over 90% water.

Did you know?
When possible use WPA or WPA2 Wireless Encryption - the old WEP method is unsafe and can be hacked!

Did you know?
Locate a Wireless Access Point away from Microwaves, DECT phones, Baby Monitors and lighting

Did you know?
Make sure the Access Point SSID (it's name) is set to 'not broadcasting - this stops most opportunist attacks

Did you know?
Make sure Wireless Access Points (APs) do not share the same Wireless Channel (frequency), as a rule of thumb make sure they are at least two numbers apart so to improve wireless signal quality.

Did you know?
For maximum wireless security, use MAC address filtering and WPA2 Wireless encryption, as well as setting the SSID on the wireless Access Point or Router set for non Broadcasting.

Did you know?
802.11n technologies come as two flavours! 802.11n 'lite' runs at 150Mbps, 802.11n runs at 300Mbps. However in practice most users will not notice the difference between the two!

Did you know?
For ideal placement of your wireless Access Point or Router, make sure they are situated as high as possible in a room. This is because if people (humans!) get in the way of the signal, they can greatly reduce the signal quality because Humans are over 90% water.

CAT5e and CAT6 Cabling

Did you know?
Using FTP instead of UTP may improve the data signal in electrically 'noisy' environments

Did you know?
A poorly or unearthed FTP system is worse than an UTP system with regard to data quality

Did you know?
Poorly crimped RJ45 plugs are often a cause of of poor data transmission and often cause a PC or Client to be discontected from the Network Switch. Add a new RJ45 Plug and think about using an RJ45 'strain releif' boot on the Patch Leads to help prevent the individual cables coming out of the plug!

Did you know?
Not having a continous shielding on your STP or FTP network will often produce poor data transmission due to possible noise voltage incidents. Ensure the cabling shielding and Earthing extends to the Patch Leads and that fully shielded Patch Panels and Modules which are Earthed are also used throughout

Did you know?
Untwisting the cable pairs too much when punching down to the IDC on a Module or Patch Panel will often product excess NEXT (Near End Crosstalk) which greatly effects data transmission especially at higher nfrequencies, such as Gigabit (1000BaseT) networks. Make sure the individual cable twists within the sheath are kept as far as possible to the IDC and if possible secured with a cable tie.

Ethernet

Did you know?
Having a network link above 100 metres may still work correctly, but be prepared for an increase in data colissions

Did you know?
Dynamode Switches need no Cross Over Cable when connected together - they autosense and cross the connection automatically

Did you know?
If you are still running the old Network Hubs, then upgrade to a Dynamode Switch. Switches are more intelligent at moving data between Network devices and thus do not saturate the Network like Hubs do. You will probably notice a massive increase in performance!

Did you know?
Its often difficult to get to the bottom of a network problem, such as slow performance or system crashes. Often overlooked is the Network Card, which if faulty can generate broadcast errors that saturate a network. Try another Network Card if all else fails and also remember to change the patch leads as these often can be the cause of a problem.

Did you know?
If you need to connect two or more Switches, such as Dynamode Switches together, you can these days mostly use standard 'straight through' patch leads. You won't need to make or buy the expensive 'cross over' leads. But please check the port you are connecting to first, it might say 'MDI-MDIX, this means you may use a standard patch lead here..the Switch will automatically cross the signal over for you.

If you are still running the old Network Hubs, then upgrade to a Dynamode Switch. Switches are more intelligent at moving data between Network devices and thus do not saturate the Network like Hubs do. You will probably notice a massive increase in performance!

Its often difficult to get to the bottom of a network problem, such as slow performance or system crashes. Often overlooked is the Network Card, which if faulty can generate broadcast errors that saturate a network. Try another Network Card if all else fails and also remember to change the patch leads as these often can be the cause of a problem.

If you need to connect two or more Switches, such as Dynamode Switches together, you can these days mostly use standard 'straight through' patch leads. You won't need to make or buy the expensive 'cross over' leads. But please check the port you are connecting to first, it might say 'MDI-MDIX, this means you may use a standard patch lead here..the Switch will automatically cross the signal over for you.


Fibre Optics

Did you know?
Add at least 5% to the run length on what the measure fibre length is, in case you need to re-route the fibre cable

Did you know?
Do not overbend Fibre Cable. This will induce 'microcracks' onto the fibre surface and weaken and reduce the light transmission

Did you know?
Very often Fibre Optic performance can be improved by simply cleaning the Fibre Connectors with an Alcohol based solution. Easier to try this than run a new fibre!

Did you know?
If your using Fibre through couplers (in-line connectors) be aware that they reduce light quality by around 20%, so bear this in mind before you use them.

Very often Fibre Optic performance can be improved by simply cleaning the Fibre Connectors with an Alcohol based solution. Easier to try this than run a new fibre!

If your using Fibre through couplers (in-line connectors) be aware that they reduce light quality by around 20%, so bear this in mind before you use them.

Remember, don't use singlemode fibre on multimode active equipment or vice-versa - it won't work.

OTDRs are very expensive for testing fibre links. A cheap (but not accurate of course) method is to use a tourch to shine light down the fibre. If not light comes out the remote end you can asume the fibre is broken and thus needs to be replaced.

If you need a more robust fibre connector, try and stick with the ST connector. These are usually meta in construction and offer far more insertions than SC or MTRJ for example. If you have non ST equipment, simply buy a ST fibre patch lead to your actual connector and patch it through a fibre patch panel.

If you need to connect buildings together, always use Fibre Cable. Fibre is non-metallic and will not suffer from electrical storm surges and also the lesser known 'Earthing Potiental' problems that can arise with different Earths using metalic cables bewteen buildings. It can work out cheaper than metal cables!

PowerLine Adapters

Did you know?
PowerLine adapters can run off mains extension leads, however the speed that they transmit data may be reduced

Did you know?
Do not run PowerLine adapters off a UPS or any electrical cables that are filtered, as this will prevent the data from being transmitted

Did you know?
Any Operating System, as long as it used TCP/IP to communicate will happily work with Dynamode PowerLine, such as Linux, Windows and MAC

Did you know?
To get maximum performance from PowerLine and to prevent electrical noise, ideally you should invest in STP patch cables running from the PowerLine to your PC or Network etc

Did you know?
The greater the distance between the PowerLine adapters (i.e. the more electrical cabling) the slower they will run. This is more apparent if there is electrical noise on the line caused by consumer devices such as Microwave Ovens etc. Try another wall socket and see if this helps the speed

Did you know?
Dynamode PowerLine adapters are fully HomePlug 1.0 or higher compatible. This means they will work with other vendors such as Netgear and Devolo

Did you know?
85Mbps and 200Mbps PowerLine adapters can 'co-exist' only on the same electrical circuit only. This means that a 85Mbps cannot communicate with a 200Mbps or vice versa, it simply means the two types can 'talk' to each relevant model of the same type

Media Converters

Did you know?
Dynamode Fibre Optic Media Converters should be used if your network cabling exceeds 100 metres and/or there are issues with copper cabling being used in areas of high electrical noise.

Did you know?
The maximum distance Multimode fibre can travel for Fast Ethernet (such as 100BaseFX) is 2000 metres. Singlemode fibre can go much longer, around 50Km, but the Media Converters are much more expensive. Most installers stick with Multimode versions.

Did you know?
Fibre is sold in pairs, one for Transmit (TX) and one for Receive (RX). If your Fibre connection fails to work, the first thing you should try is swapping the ends over at one end of the Media Converter, so TX goes to RX and vice versa. This is a common fault.

Did you know?
You don't always need to invest in expensive fibre runs. Netbit offer extra long Duplex Fibre Patch Leads which can be run up walls, ceilings etc and are ideal for small installations.

Did you know?
Poor performance on the fibre link may often be caused by dirty fibre ends, such as ST or SC connectors. Unplug and carefully clean the ends with alcohol based cleaners (not solvents!) and then try the link again.

Did you know?
Be careful where you deploy the Media Converters. The external Power Supplies need good ventilation and a good, clean power supply to increase there lifespan.

UPS

Did you know?
Before its first use, the Dynamode UPS should be charged between 6-8 hours so to condition the new internal Battery.

Did you know?
Do not attached very high electrical load devices such as Microwave Ovens to the UPS as this can reduce the Battery charging effectivness.

Did you know?
Printers, Scanners etc should not be connected to any UPS. This is because they can generate electrical noise (RF) which can cause data corruption for other devices that are connected to it, such as Servers and Workstations.

Did you know?
All UPS give an approx. time of battery backup time. This is of course dependent on the devices you have attached to it. Old style CRTs (unlike LCD) screens quickly drain the UPS battery. So do RAID Hard Drives, so different systems putting different strains on a UPS. Consider doing a test to see how long your set up lasts.

Did you know?
Position the UPS away from Computers, magnetic media and screens. The magnetic field (flux) produced by the UPS may cause data corruption on magnetic media and distort screens, especially CRT type screens.

Did you know?
Dynamode UPS is ideal for other devices such as PABX systems, Plasma Screens etc which are computers' in there own right and benefit from good, clean power.