With some planning and implementation of a few data cabling best practices, it is possible for your DIY wiring project to limit most future maintenance headaches that you may have faced. This article discusses three important data cabling tips that will help you avoid present and future problems:

Upsize Conduits

Conduits (pipes through which you will run data cables) should be much larger than what you need for the cables you intend to lay. Why is this important? The conduits you install now should help you limit how much work (and expense) you will have to endure a few years down the road when you need to expand your data network. The oversized conduits will save you from the trouble of having to rip them out and then install bigger ones that can accommodate more cables.

Label All Cables

Imagine that you need to test several circuits within your network in a short time in order to isolate the source of a malfunction; it may be a nightmare for you to determine which cable goes where unless those cables were clearly labeled. That is precisely why you should label all your data cables at the time you install them. You should label them at both ends so that each is easy to trace regardless of the location where you begin your tracing activities.

Keep Patch Cables Reasonably Short

You may have a computer room in your home and you would like all computers used by family members to be lined up in one location. You may need a patch cable to connect each computer to the data cables provided by the internet service provider (ISP). Ensure that those patch cables are as short as possible.

For instance, if the distance from one computer to the next is two feet, do not use a patch cable that is five feet long. Such a long patch cable will be excess to requirements (and you will spend more buying unnecessary lengths of cable) and it will pose a trip hazard to your family members. Very long cables also reflect poorly on your workmanship so avoid making this mistake.

It is possible to deliver professional-standard results when you use a little forethought and care during your data cabling activities. The tips above can help you achieve that high quality of work so that many of the future problems you may have faced are avoided from the get-go.

To learn more, contact a company such as Datavoice Communications.