Pulling network cable: 200 Gbps or bust! (moving 06)

[@guy_autordie]

As an european, to hear "if the fridge kick in when the microwave is on, it could trip the breaker" is insane.

[@Rick-vm8bl]

lol glad it wasn't just me, didn't even consider that was an issue with lower line voltage! Right now in my kitchen loop I have a fridge, chest freezer, microwave, kettle, two Bambulab printers and a nas hooked up and it wont get anything close to being overloaded.

[@Techsupport243]

120v carries half the power of 240v, so 1500 watts is the max you can continuously draw from a standard 15amp breaker(1800 watts for burst current). Microwaves are high draw loads on average 1100 watts, so you have very little left over before you overloaded a circuit. Nowadays you normally have a dedicated circuit for the microwave. When I pull new circuits in my house I never do 15amp anymore. I always pull 12 awg wire for a 20amp circuit.

[@guy_autordie]

@@Rick-vm8bl The last time I overload the kitchen breaker, I was cooking something in the oven, got the dishwasher on and light a second vitro-ceramic "fire". Yeah, I fuck around and found out that time :p

[@michaelterrell]

Most outlets are 15 A. A high power microwave can operate close to that limit. Kitchens typically have separate circuits for the refrigerator, and counter appliances I find British wiring about as impressive as the long illegal 'Knob and Tube wiring of 100 years ago. Yes, it was simpler, but it didn't protect lives or property very well. We also had fused power plugs, that were also banned. Your 'loop circuits' are illegal in the United States, as well since they mask poor connections that can start a fire. The only loops allowed are on monitored alarm circuits, at low power. In some cases, the return is connected to the termination resistor, in the panel. just to be able to troubleshot alarm problems faster. I have eight breaker boxes on my property. In 24 years, I've only had a couple trips. On from a failed table saw motor, and the others when I developed an open neutral, which cause one side of the line to rise from 127 to 163 volts. This fried multiple surge suppressors, and tripped the breakers they were on. If Jeff uses a mall microwave and mini fridge, a 16 A circuit wil be fine, but considering this is a commercial building, it should be on a 20A circuit breaker.

[@JensE95]

Oh yeah xD my hole kitchen expect the induction oven runs over one breaker and it’s never tripped.

[@HakAtIt]

Preach! The analogy I use to best explain it is that Wi-Fi is like a room full of people trying to talk to one person, the AP. They can't all talk at once, and when the quiet one (the one farthest away) talks everyone has to slow down to understand it. So it might be super fast, that's one at a time, where wired could hold that speed for every node, all the time.

[@joshua7551]

Here's a tip since you asked: there's no such thing as a drop of one. When pulling cables to drop locations, always pull two cables to each drop. You never know when you might want to add a second device to the area you're sitting in. Since you're pulling 10 gig to each drop, it might not be as big an issue , but we were also saying that about gigabit speed drops about 10 years ago , so your mileage may vary.

[@JoelHaasnoot]

Also seems like you're talking about at least 2-3 switches. Wouldn't you rather have pulled 2-4 drops at each jack location?

[@joshua7551]

@@JoelHaasnoot right on. Extra switch hops just add more points of failure. More resilient networks are almost always centered around high density racks with high bandwidth interconnects.

[@JeffGeerling]

@@joshua7551 For the wall where there is one drop I'm going to have a 10G switch on each bench, since I'll be plugging and unplugging multiple devices, plus I'll have a few lab/workbench devices constantly plugged in. I only really needed one run there but I decided to put in 2 boxes on that wall for convenience :) I would've run two cables to each box but I didn't buy enough for that-would've liked to go 1000' reel or two 500' so runs could be done simultaneous more easily, but that was out of my limited budget this time around.

[@joshua7551]

@@JeffGeerling fair by you. I am used to running 6 figure projects so I hadnt even considered budget. Just goes to show that there are no one size fits all solutions.

[@JeffGeerling]

@@joshua7551- Heh, when I'm spending other people's money I'm a bit more generous!

[@featherpony]

Jeff, since you asked, I have a tip. When you leave a fish line in the wall for one future pull... did you know you could get infinite pulls by making the fish line double the length of the distance between openings? Wil a double long line, you'll always have one end sticking out of both openings. You just shuttle the fish line back and forth in both directions, kind of like flossing your wall teeth. Tape a pencil to each end of the line and it can never get fully pulled into the wall on either end.

[@JeffGeerling]

Hadn't thought of that, but yeah, that's not a bad option!

[@djole02]

​@@JeffGeerlingYou don't need a double length. Just pull a new line when you pull new cables.

[@JeffGeerling]

@@djole02 That's what I've always done - though every now and then I forget and then 'oops, time to cut one of the active lines and use it as a pull cable' :D For shorter runs where you don't throw in a bunch of pull snot, the floss method doesn't seem half bad.

[@featherpony]

@@djole02 A double length is the same thing, only it's a permanent installation.

[@MichaelBeale]

@@featherpony I might do that next go-around, honestly. It's like a little cable-dumbwaiter! Just...horizontal. arguably less dumb, even?! 🤔

[@_.madpie._]

A quick tip is to ziptie the bar to the ladder so it doesn't shift, the wire pulls out smoother and more consistent

[@Doesntcompute2k]

Yes, indeed.

[@jameshorourke2]

Yep. Works like a charm. Zip Ties and Duct Tape fix everything. 👍😁

[@Reaper_1994]

As an Australian licensed cabler, you've done well. I agree with the comment of running more than 1 line. In most instances, myself and my team run 2 cables at the same time in case there is an issue with one of them. You're already there pulling one and pulling a second at the same time does not add to your time.

[@MistahHeffo]

Not to mention the cable is cheap compared to the labour cost!

[@B20C0]

Yep I agree. I've always used CAT 7 Duplex cable (that's what it's called here in Germany, it's basically two cables joined together) for the last 10 years, nowadays I don't pull many cables any more but if I was I would still use that.

[@hw2508]

@@B20C0 I hate Duplex cable and prefer to pull two simplex instead. But that seems to be a nearly religious discussion.

[@hw2508]

Depending on how many cable you need at one point and how easy it is to pull cable, I would pull 4 to 6 cable at the same time.

[@michaelwillis1832]

Aditionally in Australia there has been a push for all data runs to be in 3's, easier said than done but when you need it you need it.

[@DanielvanKATWIJK]

Here in Europe we pull tubes first and then put the wires in there afterwards. This makes it easy to change wires or pull an other pair in. Separated tubes for electrical and signal. Also separated tubes for analog and digital. Server rooms are wired in 400 V 3 phase, more power and less current. 240 or 250 V for all the other circuits. Even at home I put Cat6e SFTP every where. Nice office you are getting there Very professional.

[@enterprisehomelab7217]

One missed point when talking about reasons to not have an electrician pull network cable (or at least terminate it): too many don't do it correctly. I cant tell you how many times I've seen electricians daisy-chain network jacks, striping away five times as much jacket as necessary and untwisting everything... For those that don't want to deal with pulling / terminating your own network cable, a low voltage contractor is a better choice than an electrician - but it's really not difficult to do correctly yourself.

[@cobrabuilder9336]

A couple of Cabling tips that we use in our spec for offices. 1) always pull at least 2 drops per location 2) Always pull at lease one additional drop than you think you need at each location 3) Pull to opposite sides of the room to allow for moving furniture or additional needs in the future 4) DO NOT use older cable standards. in this day CAT 6a or CAT-7 5) Terminate to a patch panel not crimp on ends. (Keystones at the wall ports) 6) Leave a pull string ( we leave one 2x as long as the run and tie off the ends) 7) Use Fiber-Duct or conduit for the long runs with a captured pull string for fiber runs 8) Label everything! 9) ALWAYS Leave a considerable service loop in the ceiling and at the patch panel location, (The wire stretcher does not work)

[@Heizenberg32]

As a someone who does structured cabling professionally, it is indeed harder without a Dad 🙁

[@aperson9495]

For any potential adds/changes, it would have been a really good idea to put boxes where the low voltage is to be placed, and a conduit from the box straight up through the top and have all your horizontal runs up in the plenum, rather than running horizontally through the walls.

[@hw2508]

To use a ladder to hold the cable spool is a nice trick. However, I suspect the spool would rotate better if you turn it around and pull the cable from the 'bottom'. At least with the spool holders I've used that's the case. To pull copper and fiber together is quite risky. If something gets wrong the much heavier copper might damage the fiber. Quite interesting to see how people do stuff on the other side of the ocean. We usually use Cat 7 or Cat 7A cable. However, labeling before pulling is key. It is true: Better to have some cable to many than later to depend on a switch or have to pull extra cable with much more effort. Always nice to have a reserve. Measuring (Edit: Certifying) everything to the aimed standard would be nice.

[@MarcoGPUtuber]

200 Gbps is also known as 1 Geerling. The more you know.

[@TylerAdler]

As a network engineer that specifically orders structured cabling within DC this video felt like work lol

[@lavalamp3773]

I don't see why you wouldn't want to have 240V in the server room. Sure have the 2 independant 120V circuits too, but if you ever want to test or review very high power servers you'd need 240, plus the efficiency benefits of higher voltage for other equipment won't hurt.

[@MistahHeffo]

* Sighs in Australian where 240V is the norm.

[@stephengentle2815]

@@MistahHeffo Technically our power in almost every state is 230 V nominal (230 V +6/-2% preferred, 230 V +10/-6% max) now. Different states (except for possibly WA) transitioned between 2000 and 2018 to Australian Standard 60038 which is based on the international IEC standard that much of Europe uses.

[@im.thatoneguy]

Yeah our server rack in our vfx studio is like 6 120v circuits. But I wish we had gone with one big 40A 240v and a locking plug for our UPS. A 240v ups was about the same price but an electrician to come out and run a new circuit would have cost far more so we technically have a slightly lower capacity (and no locking plug)

[@vk3fbab]

FYI mains power is LV (Low Voltage). Anything under 300V is LV. Telecommunications cabling is ELV (extra low voltage). Lots of people call mains AC high voltage but it's not quite there. LV comes in at about 50 or 60v which is why POE and telephones were 48V to avoid being LV. This is the case in Australia and I think these designations are also part of an ISO standard that the USA possibly doesn't follow.

[@stephengentle2815]

Yes, this is defined in the international standard IEC 60038 (Wikipedia has a good overview), which our Australian Standard AS 60038 is based on. Low voltage is actually up to 1000 V RMS for AC and 1500 V DC.

[@vk3fbab]

@@stephengentle2815 cheers. I was getting mixed up with radio frequencies which change designations at 30MHz, 300Mhz.

[@ScottPlude]

When my home was built, I ran all my cables and then took another ten minutes to make a video. I documented all the runs while the ceiling and walls were totally exposed. It will make a great gift for another person if I ever decide to move. It even covered a gas line to my back porch and speaker wires from my A/V center to my garage (hint hint).

[@jfbeam]

If you install conduit, it's almost as easy to string cable after the walls are up. (i.e. when you need more ports) It's common in commercial wiring to use vertical conduit, and leave horizontal free in the plenum.

[@AK2CO]

Great video! Only recommendation I have is to pull single mode fiber - the OM4 duplex (2 strand) cable is really only good for 25-50Gb. 40 and 100Gb standards will require MPO12, or 12 strands with a different connector, for each connection. If you’re truly after 100 or 200Gb connections, you can run that and beyond on two strands of single mode today.

[@Waitwhat469]

I was always told to use plenum in server rooms as well, at least if they have a forced air system blowing on them, because they are basically a giant air vent with computer equipment stuck in between them.

[@Darkk6969]

I use plenum everywhere so I don't have to keep two different spools of cables. Plus I'm covered if electrical rules ever changes.

[@Doesntcompute2k]

Plenum is used "under the floor."

[@mikecondo]

Good thing you have video evidence of where your Power/Networking boxes are (for reference). Sometimes the drywallers will neglect to cut out space for your boxes, and trap them behind the drywall.

[@drmosfet]

I heard about the same thing happened to a server nobody could find, it couldn't have been running Windows for all those years without a reset?

[@hw2508]

Also, if you later need to fin your cable (or avoid to find your cable), it is helpful to have video or photo of the wiring.

[@BriBo24x7]

Wise choice using the Rockwool. I installed it in my home on the normally uninsulated interior walls, and the sound deadening from it is fantastic!

[@RandomUser2401]

what is he even building/moving? I must have missed sth completely here (all the other parts of this series).

[@skellious]

@@RandomUser2401 This is his new studio.

[@itsnebulous8507]

I'm just going to put this out there as a network engineer. If you are running new cabling never ever run multi-mode, even OM4. Only run OS2. Multi-mode has to utilize MPO/MTP connectors to reach the same speed potential as present day duplex LC tipped OS2. Maximum speed currently possible over OM4 LC duplex cabling is typically 25g. For OS2 it is at least 400g. This is further reinforced by the fact that the cost differential between using multi-mode and single-mode is nearly at parity if you're not using Cisco brand Cisco optics. Also, if you want to get that same reduced toxin burn profile from plenum cabling on fiber optic cabling the jacket would be LSZH material.

[@JeffGeerling]

Ah; in that case, my OFNP cable might be using PVDF, but the best option would be LSZH? To be honest, I'm a bit of a noob when it comes to fiber, I've only done copper in the past, besides short patch connections. The only single mode fiber I've used was from the demarc, and I didn't have to choose anything for that lol.

[@itsnebulous8507]

@@JeffGeerling ONFP is used to primarily stop flame propagation in the case of a fire and LSZH reduces toxic fumes resulting from the burning of the cable. You can get ONFP cabling with LSZH jacketing so you get best of both worlds. As you can imagine, it's expensive.

[@testman9541]

Why not lay a big corrugated pipe between the big areas ? That way you can add more wires or replace wires in the plenum 😊

[@JeffGeerling]

I considered it, and since the run is pretty straight front-to-back, and I have a pull string up there, I'll be able to yank another wire or two pretty easy. That, plus having a couple copper runs and a couple fiber runs means I should have enough link capacity for at least a few years (considering I don't plan on going to 8 or 12K video recording any time soon lol).

[@cvought1]

The new studio is going to be Amazing!! Love following the build; learning about so many useful construction tips.

[@infered5365]

Having extra service loops wherever there's a drop is very handy in my experience. Whenever it'd go from horizontal up in the plenum space, and then drop down into a wall for an ethernet jack, I'd add about 20-30 feet coiled up as extra space, so relocating a jack isn't a full new run. Doubling expected capacity is also great, since a computer now can be a computer/printer/IP phone later, and having a dumb switch by the computer is just reduced throughput.

[@hw2508]

It depends: If you add 20 to 30 feet on every cable, you spend extra money already. Pulling one new wire later might be cheaper. But it depends on how hard it is to pull cable. In this type of construction with the dropped ceiling, it is often quite easy to do. Some extra length, but 20 - 30 feet? Also the extra length is, in case of a fire, a lot of fire load, potential toxic fumes etc. that you have added to your place.

[@dwayneattard5265]

Instead of having 1 roll of cable, you could have used multiple smaller boxes. This helps you by pulling several wires at once and making it easier for yourself

[@billygoff8345]

I work for a home automation company and pull through conduit with the string has been a lifesaver. We now install it to endpoints in a building along with our normal cat/av runs just in case.

[@Moonlight0551]

Records of your cable runs and good labelling are so important. Document it all so after the memory fades you can come back and plan for future changes/upgrades. My two bobs worth as an installer!

[@treeoflifeenterprises]

yes, for my personal installs I take pictures of the runs where possible as well as labelling and testing each run. the more documentation the better. for business installs I always label and test, and if wiring is done pre drywall etc, then it gives you chances to redo a run if you get a bad cable.

[@MatthewMattoxcube8021]

It's really cool seeing your dad in videos helping with projects

[@rwhiteside81]

I love Pulling Pal! The guy actually makes them in his garage in Denver.

[@JeffGeerling]

One of those tools that seems obvious in hindsight... but took years to exist! I'm probably going to pick up a set.

[@kylosalvesen]

Excited to see the studio finished

[@Emth_]

one thing that was really helpful on a school that was being built, and had three separate server rooms was using "double data" cables, which are just two cat cables heat welded together. anywhere they needed a port, they would just get two anyways, and theyre really nice to work when zip tying to cable trays and such

[@barry99705]

Man, I haaaaaaated that stuff.

[@Emth_]

care to elaborate? ive only worked with it on cable trays and in tubing. is it bad to work with in other installs?@@barry99705

[@LSUEngineer1978]

I'm enjoying reading the comments. Folks have some great ideas. And you are doing a great job, too. A few years ago (2020 during the shutdown) when I was making my first ever fiber pull (100ft OM4 duplex patch cable from FS) I was not confident about possibly damaging the fiber during the pull. The pull was thru PVC Conduit with a few 8"x8"x6" PVC "pull boxes" inline along the way. To avoid high pull tension forces I broke the pull into shorter lengths using the pull boxes along the length of the pull. I first pulled all of the cable bundle from the source to the first box. Then re-fed the bundle into and out of the 1st box and pulled the length out of the 2nd box, etc. That way I limited pull tensions forces. So all total I pulled (using a 1/4" "rope" cord) the staggered taped together bundle of the duplex fiber and CAT6e (3 cables) along with my extra pull string. Well the Fiber is still operating at 10Gbs back to the server. And I used two of the CAT6e cables for a 1GB Access Point and a 5GB from a Mini PC back to the edge switch & router in the network rack. I sill have my "extra CAT6e" and a pull string. Pulling in PVC Conduit avoided plenum rating. Our daughter was my helper feeding the cables from the original source point and re-feeding into each pull box all while I pulled the bundle forward. FYI, all Extra Fiber patch cable lengths are nicely spooled up in a 1U cable management box also (Navispoint I think) in my 6U network rack. Jeff would like to know your network closet rack plans and if you will usie patch panels along with keystones, etc. for you fiber & CAT7 cable.

[@Trainwreck1123]

Hey Jeff, this is a little nitpicky but I wanted to point it out because it's kind of important! at ~3:25 you said you can get more current in the same cabling using higher voltage, but what you meant to say is that you can get more POWER in the same cable. Current limits for a wire are absolute, regardless of voltage. This is why we transmit power over long distances using super high voltages like 500kV, because we can push more power while keeping the amperage lower.

[@JeffGeerling]

Yes, my brain flips current and power a lot, pesky brain! You are correct.

[@ian-digitalhit]

Your presentation style is great. Informative and entertaining but without being frenetic. It's like we've grabbed coffee ☕ with a pal and he's telling us about his latest project or suggesting what to do with ours.

[@BigRigCreates]

Me: Man, routing a ethernet cable from my PC to my router a room away is a pain. Jeff: Hold my plenum.

[@prahjister]

So glad to finally see good information surrounding the physical infrastructure.

[@garci66]

Nice progress!!!... Two suggestions.... one is run "smurf tube" (at least in some sections) so that you can run as many cables or replace old cables later inside the tube. Im my country electrical (mains and low voltage) is always ran inside ducts / flexible conduit so pulling things later is a lot easier. Makes for simpler retrofit or replacing of a damaged cable / upgrades. The second suggestion is to look at "field installable single-mode SC/APC" fiber optic connectors. Those would have made for an interesting video. The whole toolset needed for the full install is around 50 USD ... connectors are around 1$ per and the fiber (single mode, which is much more "future-proof" than multi-mode) is around 150$ for a 1Km spool. Plus it makes for a interesting video content on how to do the connectors yourself. These types of connectors are used by fiber to the home installers worldwide thus why they are so cheap and the tools have been simplified a lot. I can help out with instructions on how to use the tools, etc... Cheers!

[@Darkk6969]

I use orange smurf tubes to indicate fiber runs. Plus it's very easy to spot.

[@Evan-lg1xp]

Nice choice with Monoprice. I absolutely love their ethernet and finer cables. I cant wait for this to be finished and watching a video of you installing all the equipment. Good work.

[@ultort]

I finished to pull 200m of fiber cable last month. I went with single mode fiber, I used a 4 fibers single cable. I prefer to us single mode fiber because it seems more future proof, multimode seems to change with each technology (OM2, OM3, OM4,…) but with single mode it's OS2 period. Also I didn't use pre-terminated cables and I didn't had to use an expensive fiber optic splicer, I used mechanical SC connectors and a fiber optic cleaver. It was not easy to test everything, but it's working at 10Gbps. But if you have the space I would go with pre-terminated cables to save time.

[@SanDiegoLAN]

9:00 I used a broom for this same task when we were pulling cat6 and coax through our home remodel on our channel :-)

[@Doesntcompute2k]

Done this since the '80s when pulling everything from RJ58/6u to "four wire jake," (CAT 3 technically), to CAT 5.

[@codyschiemann4732]

if you need one jack.... always pull two... When I built big sites (like Costco's or Lowes) I always... always added another cable or two on big runs... I had to test... and most of the time it was nice to have a spare if we needed one.. also id say about 60% of the time I got change orders to add this or add that... and once I had it signed I just had to uncoil it and pull it down the power pole. Good call on the trailer (the pull string you put in with the cables) just be aware that if you use it it can "burn" the cable as it goes through the ceiling so pull it slowly... as for fiber... anarobic fiber is the cheapest termination and was the best for me once you get into it... long story short you use glue... scribe the fiber (make a small cut) break it.. and then "sand" the glass.

[@Cyberstormxiii]

@JeffGeerling you really should install some 18-25mm tubes (for each network cable) that you can put the network cables in -- as that makes it possible to always upgrade to a newer/better cable at any given time, without having to cut up all the drywalls -- and still try to make as large bends as possible. To put in a new cable, you can then just tape the ends of the new cable with the old cable, and then pull in the other end of the old cable. Finally -- I would recommend 2000MHz Cat 8 or or 8.1 as that's the newest that allows 40Gbps or more.

[@NiyaKouya]

AFAIK here in Germany it's pretty much standard to use solid core CAT 7 for structured cabling. Probably not necessary everywhere, but the usual thought is that the (currently) highest/best standard makes it more likely that the cables will be compatible with the newest speed increases for longer.

[@Doesntcompute2k]

CAT 7 is better (or CAT 8 which is not officially finalized, YET), BUT, terminating CAT 7 is a pain. CAT 6A is easier to terminate. We tend to use a lot of pre-made CAT 7 cabling. I have it in my home to ensure runs of 40 and 100Gbps. But for 10Gbps the CAT 6A works fine for his length of pull.

[@stefanbehrendsen330]

My only recommendation would be to pull a 6 or 12 strand OM5 multimode plenum cable to the room from the rack(you can buy it by the foot). You don't have to have it terminated now, but it effectively gives you a future proof install for not a huge amount more money - you can bring someone in later to put ends on it and get that 100G if you eventually want or need it.

[@howardwolff9070]

Jeff I love your podcast. I recommend you run at least two spare pvc conduits, one from the server room and the other from your electrical panel to the center of the studio. Plan for the future. Before the sheet rock goes up add a few 4" square boxes in the walls with a pipe stubed out into the ceiling. Remember to mark your electrical plans with these as-built add-ons. Howard

[@AndrewDanne]

Thanks Jeff, I love doing cabeling particularly when you can plan it and see where its going. So have you labeled all your cables differently? Awesome you doing extra pull strings, you may not use it but its there!!. You've thought this through and youve done this before I suspect and have had to diagnose problems that you finally identify as being in the walls. Love your work!!

[@JeffGeerling]

Yes, one has one black loop of tape, another two. One has blue tape, one has two, one has three, etc. I'll be labeling them more permanently once I get to the terminations.

[@clairekholin6935]

You may be able to buy a microwave fridge combo thing that can stop the fridge compressor when the microwave is running, I used to have one in a dorm room.

[@perrinromney4555]

Sounds like a cool diy interlock video

[@treeoflifeenterprises]

in the uk I buy boxed cable in standard 300m lengths. the cable outlet on the box is taken from the middle of the reel so it never tangles and doesn't need to rotate. you can have a couple of boxes side by side if you want to do a double run pull at one go. We don't have a plenium/in wall cable distinctions, but you can buy lszh cable (usually coloured purple) which can be a requirement in commercial installs (low smoke, zero halogen). It's worth mentioning that if you are cheaping out on the connections to your network switches, directly wiring instead of terminating in rackmount sockets, buy dedicated cat6 rj45 plugs. They have slightly larger internal guides than the cat5e plugs, to allow for the thicker wires. I would avoid stp (shielded twisted pair unless it is absolutely necessary, it makes terminations much more fiddly. Also, cat 7 cabling can often fail to test properly with cheaper network testers.

[@WrentreeTV]

always better to pull more now. while building out my office, I pulled 4 cables to boxes every 6 feet. overkill but I'll be glad for it later. and so will you!

[@RickMunday]

Cat 6A: "fun little separator" 🤣🤣🤣 As far as pulls, we used to pull 4 and leave 2 in the ceiling in the 90's. Now we pull 8 and leave 2 in the ceiling. It's saved our bacon more than once. It costs more upfront, but cheaper than pulling them later. Hell, my new office has 12 network jacks in it.

[@Prophes0r]

Even if the walls AREN'T open, it is still better to flood wire in if you are doing more than a handful of runs. There isn't much difference between running cable to 2 boxes in nearby rooms, and putting a box on EVERY wall in those rooms. Most of the run can get shared anyway as long as you have a way to branch. This obviously doesn't work for conduit. But if you are doing conduit, you are getting back into bare stud territory anyway. NOTE: You REALLY should have opted for single mode fiber in 2023. There is little to no price difference, and it will last forever. For 2 runs, it was cheaper to get pre-terminated cable. But for 4+ runs you are getting into the territory where it is better to just run a bunch of multi-core fibers and terminate the ends you need. That way you have more fiber when you inevitably want to upgrade. (You can get 6-core, 12-core, and 24-core fiber for pretty damn cheap. Start with a single connection [1 pair] and add connectors down the line.) Or you can be lazy (like I was) and get pre-terminated bundles. A 15m duplex OS2 cable was $40. A 15m 12-core OS2 cable was $55 and has 6 paired connections. NOTE2: Cat6 and up CANNOT be CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum) Only solid-copper can meet the requirements for this cabling. NOTE3: DO NOT buy Cat7(a). It is technically not rated for ethernet, is not rated for 8p8c connectors, and is no better than Cat6a (which was standardized for 10Gbit ethernet while Cat7 was still in-the-works, so Cat7 was abandoned before it was ever actually certified for networking use [or any use actually]). Any seller willing to sell you Cat7 for ethernet is (at best) ignorant or (at worst) fraudulent. Cat6 for

[@BeggiA702]

3:23 - "Higher voltage is more efficient, usually, and you can get more current in the same cabling." I think the second statement is wrong. The cable's ability to transmit current is not changed when the voltage is changed. It has the same resistance at any voltage. I think what you meant to say is that "you can get more power (Watts) with the same cabling".

[@turbo2ltr]

In my house, i ran 1 3/4 PVC to places that were difficult to get to so that when I have to run more wires, its as easy as pulling them through the conduits instead of crawling on my belly in insulation. Well worth the initial effort. I have one from the master closet in the coner of the house where my AV gear is, to the center of the attic right by the hatch.. Then I have one that goes down to the first floor to a hatch in the garage cieling, and another from the hatch to the structured wiring panel in the laundry room. I can run a wire from one side of the house to the other by myself in under an hour.

[@willwebbjr]

Service loops should preferably be in ceiling space or if in the wall not secured with cable ties. A single wrap of rated electrical tape means you can pull the slack when needed or easily replace it during a failure event without breaking the wall. Also, pulling in fiber patch cables with no support structure is risky.

[@AB-Prince]

if you're ESD conscious, when working on projects, then having a strip of aluminium or copper tape just above your work desks along the wall, connected to ground, may be a good idea, when I was in college, one of the desks in the electronics lab had a strip of aluminium tape with eye bolts screwed through into the wall for quick and easy grounding points.

[@Flargenyargen]

I haven't run physical cable in a formal environment in a long time. And I never got to do it while the walls were open. I think my first work-related trauma came from running cables through a wall.

[@JeffGeerling]

Heh... fishing is always so... fun!

[@GadgetAddict]

I wish you'd asked Linus to come in and run your cables. His mistakes would probably be hilarious.

[@purpleidea]

The biggest issue is dealing with other trades that don't know that you can't bend ethernet cable. Careful they don't break your stuff. Even if the connectivity is okay, you could still increase your packet loss from bends and slight cable damage.

[@JeffGeerling]

Yep; I coordinated with the electrician to pull after he was done (since his armored cable could easily damage my wiring as he was pulling it!), and then made sure the framing guys got all the insulation wedged in there nicely so my wires were out of the way of the drywallers completely. Good to work with all the trades and make them all aware of ways to avoid bumping into each other!

[@memediatek]

​@@purpleideawhich instance? Im interested

[@purpleidea]

main instance social -- only one purpleidea anyways @@memediatek

[@BeeWhere]

Great video, I just got a house and the guy before me was using DSL. I was able to get coax to all the bedrooms and now I'm running dual cat 6a cable so I setup a wired run for me and my NAS and a wired connection for future mesh network so I can have better wifi outside and in my garage/workshop.

[@drstefankrank]

If you don't want to spend the money for fibre splicing, but have the option to run a bigger diameter cable you can use break-out cables. They offer a single sleeve fibre cable and have a bunch of pre terminated connectors hanging out on both ends. To make it look good, put them into a normal fibre patch enclosure. In there you have the mating adapters, but no standard pigtails. No difference to a custom spliced fibre run.

[@JeffGeerling]

I believe that's how Patrick from STH wired up his last place, he had like 25 fibers in each run!

[@drstefankrank]

@@JeffGeerling 24 fibres give you 12 duplex connections, which is very common. The other is 12 and also 6 and sometimes 4, but on such low numbers I would go your way. Usually fibres are grouped in to multiples of 12 in one cable up to the thousands for metro and above connections.

[@TheoreticalMass]

I like to double up on all cable runs that go between distribution layer and access layer switches, it provides fault tolerance with for example spanning tree protocol. Also you could use multiple switches for even more fault tolerance.

[@wollinger]

On top of extra runs, extra empty conduits.. it's just a flexible tube that you can run yourself and use for anything in the future.

[@zito88]

Go buy a label maker. Label the end of each cable, much easier to reference than electrical tape lines. Print your label out twice before cutting it off so when you wrap it around the cable the print isn't directly on the cable but is on the label's tails. Makes super easy to read labels. Personally I just label them each with a letter-number combo. Letter A for patch panel A, B for B, etc. and 1 - 24 for the slot number on the patch panel. I start with A-1 and go to 24, etc.. But you could label however you want. Label makers are cheap and I find this super convenient.

[@JeffGeerling]

Label maker ++

[@Doesntcompute2k]

And I add R1, R2, R3...for which RACK the cable is run to. :) R1P1J19 is Rack1, Patch 1, Jack 19. My racks (at home) have two or three patch panels, and I have three (main) racks. Jeff might get there one day soon! :)

[@zito88]

@@Doesntcompute2k I don't have to worry about racks quite yet as I only have one, so far, and mostly I do residential installs and only need to run to one rack and usually only one patch panel, so normally I can just get away with 1-24. But this is definitely the logical next step, hoping I need to add rack nomenclature someday!

[@BeOurBee]

Even with labels, it's good to have a tone generator and wand handy.

[@MactelecomNetworks]

Great video! I hate that “ fun little separator “ 😂 but it does have a use

[@TechnoTim]

Lots of great tips!

[@RussellNelson]

Smurf tubing everywhere! You don't have to use it, but if you need it, it's a lifesaver! I put it in my house and needed it as soon as we moved in.

[@poochey1]

Definitely run cabling for 240v if you're not going to use it today. 90% of I.T. gear will utilise it and it's so much more efficient across all loads.

[@aaronkoch3273]

To be fair, since they're dedicated runs they can be rewired later at the outlet and the panel for 240v quite easily

[@JeffGeerling]

The run for 240v would've necessitated new conduit and jacked up the cost a bit more than I wanted for the electrical wiring. (The 120v run only required three new wires pulled in an existing conduit.) My hope is that, if I stay in this space longer than a couple years, I'll do a small reno and pull some more wiring and build it out a little more... we'll see.

[@the-shork]

Really enjoying these videos, hope everything goes as smooth as construction can go

[@KG4JYS]

I recently upgraded my home network to 10Gbps but ran OM4 fiber and cat8 copper for patching. Cat8 and om4 are both rated for 40Gbps. I couldn't afford switches that could take advantage of either (yet). At least I won't have to get up in my attic when it's time to upgrade. Regarding 10Gbps, the fiber and copper are indistinguishable in performance. Fiber is much cheaper for long runs, but it's not quite robust enough for runs to my computers.

[@TobFromme]

3:25 "More current in the same cabling" - current ratings are for cable gauges and are unrelated to voltage. I believe I know what you meant though. You can likely run more devices or devices with higher power requirements on the same circuit, as doubling the voltage roughly halves the current used. In most commercial settings, you'll find 3 phase power, so it would be 208V. I wonder if there's a PDU that can offer 120V outlets. I have a small adapter in my garage that converts my 240V circuit to twin 120V outlets. Great video! I've been catching up on the series.

[@spacewalker72069]

Nice vid. Yeah rule of thumb is always pull 2 wires where you think you only need one. Cheaper than later and if you get an idea for an extra needed run, or one goes bad, you will have saved a lot of headache and cost, and in some cases later adds might even be essentially impossible.

[@cbleslie]

I can't wait for the PoE'ing of all the things.

[@jh491]

Nice to watch the process that you and Paul's hardware are going through

[@JeffGeerling]

Ha, yeah every one of his episodes I glance at what he's doing, and also think it's ironic he's going back to his house while I'm heading out from the house!

[@jh491]

@@JeffGeerling I just recently started my journey beyond one PC for Windows/music/gaming to a couple of Linux "servers" to do pfsense/pi-hole/docker/TrueNas. Still don't have much clue what I'm doing but I'm excited to learn and appreciate your videos showing how and why to do things

[@davidquirk8097]

If you are spooling cable off multiple reels alternate the reels on your drum holder (ladder and pipe in your case) feed adjacent spools from the top and bottom. This way the spools are counter rotating as you pull the wire off that gives better control off the drums. It also helps when only pulling from one drum as the adjacent drums will wind up rather than spooling cable onto the floor.

[@samstringo4724]

Good tip! Thanks.

[@Lyunpaw]

Tons of wonderful information here. Thanks Jeff.

[@BeOurBee]

"Why not just have electricians install it?" Former ISP technician here. That rhetorical question kicked me in the brain stem and set off a full-body storm of neuron groans so loud I sounded like a Mahler recital. Listen, as a professional for years whose workload often reached 70 hours a week I have committed many network wiring sins out of necessity (apartments with only quad wiring, you're the worst). But man, that ISP would have me out on my butt faster than the union could blink if I did the kind of stuff electrical contractors did on the regular. "Slack? What's that? You calling me a slacker?" "Use the copper clad aluminum stuff, it's cheaper and the box is lighter." "Make sure to staple that wiring down until it cuts the jacket. Nothing else will do. In fact, make sure to pin it down with one leg of the staple going through the cable for good measure!" "Who got this dang wire all twisty inside? I'm just gonna straighten out the first foot of it at each end and call it good." "Remember, no human being needs anything other than one run; from the wall to the kitchen counter. But if those crazy customers say they need it in the living room, just pull one cable and splice a jack in the middle at the kitchen." "All you need to terminate that there co-wacks cable is a jackknife and some pliers." These are just a few of the phrases I imagine electrical contractors uttering aloud as they lumber about, chuckling to themselves about how good a job they're doing. Oh, and I could count on two hands the number of times in my career I went to a house that had conduit.

[@GroupSoliloquy]

I said "Aw crap, wear gloves" moments before you drilled into the upper stud. 😆Good clean work! Yes, more runs is good practice, pull a spare. Also on runs you may get back to (such as up in the grid) never hurts to pull a string with the lines, that way you can always pull more cables (with another string!) if you need one.

[@jeepdog5]

don't worry Jeff, professionals use a stick of EMT and a ladder to pull cable all the time!

[@turbo2ltr]

Wouldn't "Dual redundancy" mean 4 power supplies and 4 UPSs? lol. Great video as always. People look at me weird when I say I have 10gb fiber between the NAS and PCs in my house. It's the only way to go! I even bought a thunderbolt to SFP+ adapter so I can have 10gb on my work laptop..

[@junejhunkie]

If I can add. If you are taping the nose of a pull. It would be best to stagger about a foot apart of every new cable you're attaching to the pull, so your first nose would thinner. It lends to a smoother pull specially if you are pulling from an angle. pulling kilometers upon kilometers of cable for over a decade will teach you a trick or two. try it out next time.

[@RK-kn1ud]

@3:25 I believe you meant to say you can draw more power from the same cabling. P=V*I so if you increase your voltage or amperage, power will increase.

[@daveparnin]

I pulled more than I thought I needed when I was building out my space but later there were more I had to do afterwards. It's good to leave a string or cable pull from the ceiling to the box to make that part of the pull a lot easier.

[@phillee2814]

I've always left a circular loop through the cable runs, with a small ring somewhere on it for a woven wire cable grip on it (the harder you pull, the tighter it grips, but it releases easily just by pushing). being an endless loop means you can pull cables from either end. The woven wire grips are available (or at least were - it is years since I personally had to do any installations) in a variety of sizes, but as each covers a range of diameters, I doubt if many people would need more than a couple. At the larger sizes, they are even used by power companies to pull a couple of thousand metres of really fat cable at a time, using powered winches. For real cheapskates or if you can't find a source, the woven type of shielding out of several types of coax works well, but being copper, is more limited in strength. You can terminate them at the end you pull on by taking all the strands running clockwise into one bunch, all those running anticlockwise into another, then splicing, knotting, soldering or crimping the two bunches together. Splicing is the strongest and leaves no lump in the works that could get snagged in a pull, but always takes a small blood sacrifice to complete. DAMHIKT!

[@qlum]

Interesting, here in the Netherlands we are a lot more free when it comes to doing our own electrical work. Inspections are generally not needed if you do it yourself. The only thing you need an electrician for is hooking it up to the meter. Besides that it's fair game. The only thing you need to watch out for legally is that if things catch fire and you installed it yourself and it's proven to be not up-to-standard they may not pay out. Granted office buildings things may be different.

[@Doesntcompute2k]

This is an office building. In America, MOST States have codes which only require a Master Electrician to hook up to the electrical panel in homes.

[@skaltura]

HVAC: There is silencers sold for HVAC ducting, purpose built for your needs. Also if you just ADD MASS, ie. bitumen to the pipes, that helps too on vibrations, but for steady hum you need tons of bounces for the sound so essentially foam. Bitumen will do wonders tho, and a outlet diffuser too

[@BigBenAdv]

Both riser (CMR) and plenum (CNP) are actually fire retardant - they should not act as a fuel for spreading a fire but melt and breakdown instead. The cheapest CM/ CMG are the ones that are not required to be fire retardant but need to be installed in conduits or raceways that would impede the spread of fire across spaces. Also important point regardless of whether you use CMP/ CMR/ CM cabling is to ensure you have firestop installed any time you punch through a wall between spaces as that air gap would allow flames to leak across the spaces. Depending on where you're located, building codes may also require certain types of insulation be installed within drywalls that are fire retardant as well. Locally, we have such requirements so that a drywall partition would have to allow for 1 to 4 hours of fire resistance (to slow down spread of fires).

[@BWAC]

Ex installer here, run some “future” cabling you might require, E.G some 4/6 core security cable for PIRs or access control (that’s a different rabbit hole of cabling) or 4xCAT 6 UTP to the front office then to the floor (I’m assuming your office size is quite small) - Cables are cheap Also learning to use tape properly will save you so many heartbreaks, placing it in a fashion you have will lead to cables coming off. You want 1 piece at the start as tight as you can get down the wires (staggered still) then rip it off at the end fast to get rid of the straggly bit Don’t take it as a criticism Jeff I love this channel! I once got 2x100m pre-made fibre lines tangled up and had to untangle it in a roof space about 1m high in 35’c+ heat, I was not a popular guy that day

[@JeffGeerling]

To be honest my Dad's the pro with electrical tape, he can wrap almost anything without even thinking, and his wraps always look beautiful. Probably since he has like 40 years on me ha! I haven't decided about security stuff yet, though I do have four existing runs for PoE cams that I will be moving slightly but otherwise re-use. For now I'm sticking with the wireless SimpliSafe stuff for the simple things, but if I stay in this space longer, I'm going to up my game there quite a bit.

[@BWAC]

@@JeffGeerling imo as a security tech for almost a decade now (damn i'm old), hardwired security is the way to go

[@Fratm]

Back in the early 2002's I was tasked with cabling up a new data center for an ISP that I worked for. I always felt running cables was almost meditative, and I really enjoyed it. I wonder if you experienced that feeling too. I even learned how to do the waxed string cable ties that the phone company used to use, and used that instead of cable ties. It actually became faster once I got good at it. The cabling job looked a lot like that picture you showed in the beginning of the video.

[@JeffGeerling]

I've never done the cable looming, but I always look on with jealousy when I see someone doing it. So beautiful when cabling is installed neatly like that.

[@tbeehler]

I always do 2 cable runs per drop. That was I've always got expansion if need be.

[@andymandiak603]

I'd run each drop straight from above the ceiling then use J-hooks back to the server room instead of bushings through the studs for MUCH better serviceability, especially if you're not running conduit, but CAT6a solid copper is a great choice. CCA can have overheating problems when using POE+ and above.

[@timmy7201]

4:27 - Technically you want two circuits, since if the fridge kicks in while the microwave is running, it could trip the breaker. Then they call the US a first world country... Her in Europe I've two servers, 3 gaming desktop's, a fridge, a projector and my electronics lab connected to the same circuit-breaker... On occasion a 1600W vacuum as well... No problem at all...

[@JeffGeerling]

Heh we top out around 2kw on a branch circuit!

[@chipholland9]

Tip I learned from doing the house - keystone jacks are not all the same exact size. Make sure the jacks you're using fit your wall plates and 19" rack.

[@michaelhess4825]

Always pull through the low voltage box, tie a loop (even fiber) and tape the entire box front with painters tape. Drywallers are notoriously bad at being careful of wires and boxes. You don't want to fish if you don't have to. Conduit on vertical drops from a hung ceiling are well worth it if you plan to stick around for a decade or two.

[@AdamsLab]

OM4 fiber was an unnecessary expense, OM3 would have done fine. I also would against running cables horizontally like was show here, straight down from the celling to the box. If you ever need to replace or add a cable the horizontal runs are going to make that a huge pain, if not impossible. I'd also recommend smurf tubing or conduit to junction boxes so you can add or replace cables easily.

[@AndersHass]

I did see Paul from Paul's Hardware (who also attended LTX but he is more focused on desktop PCs) did just move back home for video production with the issues he had at the office he got. With all the work you are doing with this office space it hopefully won't be in vain like it was for him (at least to me it seems like it won't be). I am looking forward to how well sound is going to be at the end.

[@Chris_In_Texas]

Yes, always much cheaper and quicker to run cabling before putting up sheet rock. We have about 90 Ethernet connections and 40 coax connections in our house when it was being built. Because we have all sprayfoam, trying to run cabling now is almost impossible, even the interior walls are insulated to stop noise. Even with that many connections we have 11 ethernet switches and 8 access points installed for coverage. We have just at 7500 sq feet in a single story house, so lots of space to cover.

[@Mejuraj]

One tip, if is not too late. I would add at least one more outlet in "kitchen" area. Because today you don't need more outlets but. Let's say that NetworkChuck would come, and now you need coffee maker somewhere. Yes you can go with extendion cord or something but outlet is outlet. You simply never have enough outlets!

[@dennisfahey2379]

A good idea is to run string loops between common points such that if you need to add a cable later you can tape it to the string and just rotate the loop to pull it to the destination.Once the walls are sealed this will save you from having to open anything up.

[@Mbro-dq2do]

Commercial construction 28 yewars. Plenum area is simply called Above the grid as well. Technically no BX power cords or anything is to be laying on it. Everything strung up to supports cables. Anything but laying on the grid itself