-: Copper cable issues. 2 2
Now, in this lesson, 3 3
we're going to discuss the various copper cable issues 4 4
that you may experience. 5 5
This includes things like incorrect pinouts, 6 6
bad ports, opens, and shorts. 7 7
First, we have incorrect pinouts. 8 8
If you're testing a twisted pair of network connection, 9 9
and it isn't working properly, 10 10
the chances are, your connections pinout 11 11
is probably incorrect. 12 12
Now, there are a few places 13 13
that connections pinout could be incorrect, 14 14
including the patch panel, the wall jack, 15 15
or the RJ45 connector itself. 16 16
When you look at the patch panel, 17 17
there's usually going to be a sticker 18 18
near the punch-down block that shows you what wire or pin 19 19
should be attached to each connection point 20 20
on that patch panel. 21 21
By default, most patch panels use a TIA 568B pinout. 22 22
This means we have pins one through eight 23 23
being connected as white/orange, orange, 24 24
white/green, blue, white/blue, green, 25 25
white/brown and brown. 26 26
If you're having an issue with the connection 27 27
and you suspect the pinout is incorrect, 28 28
you need to visually inspect 29 29
the back of the patch panel and it's punch-down block 30 30
to ensure the proper colors 31 31
are being put in the proper pins. 32 32
Now, when you're looking at the back of a wall jack, 33 33
the exact same thing holds true. 34 34
Instead of being shown as pins one through eight 35 35
in a horizontal layout like you might see in a patch panel, 36 36
most wall jacks will usually have 37 37
four pins on one end of the jack, 38 38
and four pins on the other. 39 39
This wall jack is also known as a keystone. 40 40
And it's clearly going to be labeled as pins one through eight, 41 41
or visually using color code stickers or markers 42 42
for each pin's location. 43 43
Finally, we have our RJ45 connector itself. 44 44
These plastic connectors are using net copper pins 45 45
to the inner twisted pair wires of a UTP or STP cable. 46 46
While an RJ45 is not clearly labeled from pin one to eight, 47 47
or with the TIA 568B color scheme you need, 48 48
you can always visually look at the pins 49 49
and see all eight pins inside the RJ45 connector. 50 50
When you hold up the RJ45 connector 51 51
with a small plastic clip facing downward, 52 52
you can then look at the pins 53 53
and count them from left to right, 54 54
numbered from one to eight. 55 55
Again, this will ensure 56 56
that your inner twisted pair wires 57 57
are color coded correctly 58 58
as white/orange, orange, white/green, blue, 59 59
white/blue, green, white/brown, brown, 60 60
when you view it from pin one to pin eight. 61 61
To test the connection or a cable and verify its pinout, 62 62
you can also use a cable tester or a wire mapping tool. 63 63
These tools will test the inner wire 64 64
from your cable or connection, 65 65
and ensure they're properly cabled 66 66
from one end to the other. 67 67
If the connection is found to be incorrectly pinned out, 68 68
you can simply disconnect the individual wires, 69 69
re-strip the twisted pair cable using a wire stripper, 70 70
and re-punch down the wires 71 71
into the patch panel or wall jack, 72 72
or replace the RJ45 connector on the cable 73 73
until all portions are properly using 74 74
the TIA 568B wiring standards. 75 75
Next, we have the issue of bad ports in a copper network. 76 76
Each network interface card on a workstation or server 77 77
needs to connect to an ethernet twisted pair network, 78 78
is going to have an ethernet port, 79 79
that it's going to use and accept an RJ45 connector into. 80 80
If you need to test the ethernet port 81 81
on your network interface card, 82 82
you're going to need to use a loopback plug, 83 83
and specialized software. 84 84
This will let you send out data 85 85
and have it returned back in the ethernet port, 86 86
and determine if everything's functioning properly. 87 87
If it isn't, 88 88
you need to replace the network interface card. 89 89
If the network interface card 90 90
is soldered to your motherboard, 91 91
you can then add an expansion card instead 92 92
to replace this broken onboard ethernet port. 93 93
Now, if you suspect a bad port on a switch or a router, 94 94
you need to connect a loopback plug 95 95
to the port on that device 96 96
and run a test using specialized software, 97 97
just like you would on a workstation. 98 98
Now, if the port is found to be faulty or bad, 99 99
you can then switch out any connections from that port 100 100
to another available port on the switch or router. 101 101
In the case of a router, 102 102
you may also be able to replace the ethernet port 103 103
by changing out the interface card 104 104
for the router on that slot. 105 105
If not, you're going to have to simply move that connection 106 106
to another available port. 107 107
Finally, we have opens and shorts. 108 108
When you conduct a cable test of a twisted pair connection, 109 109
you may find an open or a short exists 110 110
on that cable connection. 111 111
The result of open is going to occur during a cable test, 112 112
if you have nothing on the other end of the connection, 113 113
or if there's some kind of a break in the wires 114 114
between the source and the destination. 115 115
So, if I'm conducting a test of a cable 116 116
from a patch panel to the wall jack, 117 117
over a patch cable into my tester, 118 118
and it reports as open, 119 119
that means somewhere in that end-to-end connection, 120 120
it's either disconnected, 121 121
or one of those cables 122 122
has been accidentally cut or broken. 123 123
At that point, we're going to need 124 124
to test each piece of the connection 125 125
to determine where that break exists. 126 126
For example, I might first test the patch cable. 127 127
And if that's successful, 128 128
I know that the problem isn't my patch cable, 129 129
and instead, I'm going to look at the patch panel connection, 130 130
or the wall jack connection. 131 131
The opposite of an open is considered a short. 132 132
Now a short indicates that two wires are connected together, 133 133
somewhere in that connection. 134 134
Usually, this occurs when a cable is poorly made, 135 135
or two of the inner twisted pair wires 136 136
are accidentally touching each other 137 137
in a single pin of an RJ45 connector. 138 138
If you're experiencing a short in your connection, 139 139
you should rewire the RJ45 connection 140 140
at the end of the cable, 141 141
as this is usually going to be the source of your problem. 142 142
If this doesn't fix it, 143 143
then you need to physically examine the entire cable 144 144
to see if it's been damaged 145 145
somewhere in the middle of that cable run. 146 146
Alternatively, you can simply replace the cable 147 147
with a known good cable, 148 148
and this can also solve your issue. 149 149
If you need to test for incorrect pinouts, 150 150
opens, and shorts, a good cable tester, a cable certifier, 151 151
or a wire mapping tool will be the key to your success. 152 152
If you're testing for a bad port, 153 153
then a loopback adaptor or a loopback plug 154 154
is going to be the tool to use. 155 155
Remember, for the exam, 156 156
it's important to understand 157 157
which tool you might need to use 158 158
to troubleshoot different cable connectivity issues. 159 159
(electric buzz)