Laying Down the Wires on the Patch Panel

Again, of all the procedures you'll be following on NetDay, laying down the wires is one of the most important to do exactly right. If you don't follow the EIA 568A specification PRECISELY, the cable may still transmit data but at a much slower rate. Here's how to follow the spec:

Dos

DO lay down wires on the patch panel in ascending order by room number, from left to right. (DON'T necessarily lay them down in the order in which you ran the cables.) For example, if you're wiring Rooms 101, 103, 205 and 215, lay the wires down as follows: 101/A, 101/B, 103/A, 103/B, 205/A, etc. Refer to your cut sheet. You'll label the patch panel later.

DO lay the wires down in the patch panel so that the colors of the wires correspond exactly to the colors indicated on the pin locations, as you did when you laid down the wires in the jack. Different-colored wires are NOT interchangeable, and blue wires are NOT interchangeable with blue/white, orange with orange/white, etc.

DO keep the sheath within 1/4 inch of where the wires begin branching out to their pin locations.

Don'ts

DON'T untwist the wires more than necessary to lay them down at the pin locations. Untwisted wires don't transmit data as quickly. Also, if the wires are not all color-coded, you risk mixing them up. A good way to keep from untwisting too much is to hold down the wires next to the patch panel with one finger while you use the other hand to pull apart the end you want to lay down. Extra twists are OK.

DON'T strip more cable sheath than necessary (about 1 1/2 to 2 inches) to do the wiring. Stripping too much sheath will slow the rate of data transmission.

When you ran the cable in Part I, you should have left enough slack so that now you can put the patch panel on the floor while you're punching down the wires.

Glossary of Terms