In this video I show you how to terminate a patch panel with blank square holes for keystones. These are my favorite kind of patch panels. They may also be called a pass-through patch panel. This is something you’ll see a lot as an independent contractor tech in the information technology field.
List of Tools and Supplies In This Video:
https://amzn.to/3slyIeV
I have been in the freelance IT tech industry since 2000, on Field Nation since 2010, and on Work Market since 2011. Field Tech Academy wants to give you the secrets of 20+ years of experience how you can succeed as an Independent IT Field Tech.
Have questions or want me to cover something I missed in a video? Feel free to leave me comments and I’ll do my best to help!
Subscribe to Field Tech Academy’s YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@fieldtechacademy
If you would like to learn more about how to find Field Nation alternative clients or about being an independent IT field technician, watch our other videos and visit our website for coaching services.
www.fieldtechacademy.com
===========================
Connect with us!
===========================
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fieldtechacademy/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/fieldtechacademy
Contact Us: https://fieldtechacademy.com/contact-us/
===========================
Support The Channel!
===========================
Love the channel and want to support our work?
You can go to the “Tip Jar” on our website to leave a tip:
https://fieldtechacademy.com/product/tipjar/
You can also support the channel by clicking this link to Amazon before you make a purchase. For the next 24 hours, we get a small commission for the things you buy:
https://amzn.to/404iZ02
Video Transcript:
This is
Michael with Field
Tech Academy.
In today’s video,
I’m going to
show you how
I terminate a pass
through
patch panel when I’m working Field Nation jobs or jobs for field nation alternative clients.
Or maybe better
describe it
as a patch panel
with blank square
holes in it
that you just do
keystones with.
It is
one of the
easiest types
of patch panels.
I’m also going
to show you
a couple of tricks
that I use
when I am
running my cables,
so that when I
get to the point
of terminating
the patch panel,
I can look
at my cables
and I know,
okay,
this cable goes to
this room,
this cable
goes to this
room, etc..
So let’s
get into it.
I ran cables
at the site.
They wanted
black cable,
of course,
black cables
hard to mark
with a Sharpie.
got a set
of electrical tape
with different
colors.
I was able
to go through,
and obviously
I’ve got cables,
I only have
five colors.
the first
set of cables
and I ran,
the first five
I just did
a single wrap.
After that
I started doing
a two wrap.
So two green,
three green,
three blue,
two blue single.
You get the idea.
And then as I
pull it
out of the box,
I put tape
on the box
so I know which box
it came out of.
So once I got
the cable
pulled all the way
to the destination,
came back here,
and I can
actually cut it
at the box,
tape it
the same on
this end.
And then I knew
which cables are
which.
I don’t
have to tone
and trace them.
Now I’m
going to make
a service
loop up in
the ceiling.
Here I am
coiling up
a couple
rounds of cable
to create a service
loop.
Now, a service loop
serves
a couple
of purposes,
the main
one being that
you’ve got
a failsafe.
If you make a mistake,
then you have
a little bit
of spare cable
to unwrap
and pull back down.
Then of course
for future use,
if someone comes in
behind me in a year
or two for a field nation alternative company ticket
and needs
to move the rack
or make changes,
or shift
the patch
panel down
at a lower point
in the
network rack,
then they have
the ability
to have some extra
cable with
which to do that.
So I’ve got
my service loop
in the ceiling.
Now I’m
pulling my cables
in through the rack
so that
I can have a
nice little
cable path,
and then I’m going
to start
terminating the
patch panel.
I’ll put this up
in the
ceiling later.
But at least
now I’ve
got it
coiled off
and ready
so that
my distances
will all be
the same.
I’ve got this
low enough
so that I can
actually see
all of my colors.
I’ve went around
the facility
and marked,
all of my cables.
Looked at what my
color code was,
labeled them
all in order.
So they all flow
around the building
in a logical
fashion.
Now, I know
using my map
which ones I’m
going to put in
port one, two,
three, four, etc.
I can start
terminating the
patch panel.
This is a
brand new rack.
So I’m
having to put
the nuts
into the rack
so that
I can attach
the patch panel.
While I’m
at it, I’m
actually attaching
the nuts
for my switches
and my other
pieces of equipment
so that I’m
ready to go.
Now I’m going to
mount up my
patch panel,
but I’m going to
just finger thread
my nuts
because I
don’t want to
have this tight
until I get
all four points
attached.
Then you can
actually tighten it
down.
I have a lot
of slack
left in my cables,
and I did that
on purpose
because I’d rather
cut off
extra cable
than to end up
at this point
needing
more length.
The first thing
I want to do
here is
take my number
one cable,
and I’m going to
lay it out
and estimate
the length,
and we’re going
to pull it
through the
patch panel.
This is a
passthrough
patch panel
and get it ready.
And I’m going
to use it
as a template
to shorten up all
my other cables.
When I’m making
the decision
on where
to cut this,
I want to make sure
that I’ve got
my degree turns
and I have
left enough
so I can cut off
and strip down
for my keystone.
bringing this
cable over
from the side
all the way
across to one means
that this is
going to be
my longest cable,
so I know
I can use it
as a template
so I can shorten
all this up.
So I’m not
fighting with it
all day.
Before you cut,
you want to
make sure
you’ve got
your service loop
in the ceiling.
You want to
make sure
that you’ve got
whatever
you’re going
to do here.
For your back side
where you’re going
to make your hole.
Then you calculate
your distance.
And you know
you’re safe.
Then
all the rest of
them should be
shorter
than this one.
If you’ve never
seen a pass through
patch panel.
These things
are amazing.
As you can see,
once I identify
my cable.
I can bring it
through and start
planning my
cable management.
Now I look
at my cables,
I look at my tape
markings so I know
which cable goes
to port one, port
two, etc.
and then I’m
going to
position them
and get them ready
so
I can cut them off
and put two
keystones on it.
And I said this
was a passthrough
patch panel.
It’s actually
a patch panel
that has blank
square holes,
and it allows you
to take
your keystones
in from the back
and just snap
them into place.
I should be done
in the ceiling.
So I’m going to
cut my tile
to allow that cable
to come through.
Since this is
sitting on
the wall,
I’m going to
have to cut at this
paint line here.
All right.
Now we’ve got
our tile back.
We can start cable
managing down here.
We should be done
on the ceiling.
Making progress.
You want to bring
your cables in
from the edge.
And not just
bring them
straight through.
Because you may
have equipment
that sits
up on top,
that this is
going to block.
If it’s right
here in the middle.
As much as
possible.
I try to use
Velcro.
ZIP ties can pinch
the cables
and create problems
down the road.
But what I’m
doing in
this moment
is just temporarily
putting in
a zip tie
to hold it
in its place,
and I can still
work with the cable
and move it around,
and then later
I’ll replace it
with Velcro
and make it more
nice and tidy.
We’ve got a coil
in the ceiling.
Now we have a good
cable path.
Now, all I have
to do is terminate
the keystone.
And beauty
of this pass
through style
is that
I can take this out
and work with it,
put a
keystone on it
and the snap in
and I’m done.
I don’t have to
flip the patch
panel around
and punch it
by hand
every single time.
Every brand
has their own
all in one tool.
I happen
to use QuikJack.
You’ll slide
the jack in,
and it’ll terminate
all eight
conductors
at the same time.
Saves you
from a lot of
punching down
and wearing
your arm out.
whatever brand
that you like
to use.
Find their
all in one tool.
Make your life
much easier.
I’m going to pull
my cable out
and now I’m
going to strip it
back.
You can obviously
use scissors.
I like
to use
a pre-made
stripper, though.
It seems
to be a lot
safer
for not cutting
the internal pairs.
Over the years,
when I’ve tried
to use scissors
on the outside
jacket, many times,
I’ve actually
ended up
cutting
the internal
conductors.
And then you don’t
discover it
until you’re
doing testing
and you got to redo
the whole thing.
So in
my opinion, it’s
just a lot easier
to use a stripper
that is designed
specifically
for Cat and Cat.
Once
you’ve stripped
the outer jacket,
Depending on which
brand and
type of cable
you have,
you may have
a thread
in the cable,
and you may
also have
a plastic strip
that is in the cable.
You want to
actually
cut those off
and get those
out of the way.
Then you’ll
separate your
eight conductors.
I always try to
keep my colors
together.
You know,
like my blue, white
and my blue, green,
white and green
a lot of the cable
brands.
The colors
are very,
very faded,
just not bold
where you can
easily tell
what they are.
So keeping
your pairs
close together
keeps you
from crossing over
maybe like
the brown
and the green
or something
like that.
Then once
you’ve got
your pairs
separated,
you’re going to
take your keystone.
And your every
keystone
is different,
every brand
is different,
but they’re
all going to have
the color
layout on the side.
You just need
to make sure
that you’re
looking at
your keystone
and look at the
color layout,
and make sure
that you’re
matching your pairs
to the layout.
And we’re typically
using the
B standard for most field nation alternative client jobs.
A standard is not
typically used
in most cases.
Once you have
all eight
conductors laid in,
use your
all in one tool.
And just like that,
your punched down.
On the patch panels
just bring it in
from the back.
Clip side down.
There you go.
Rinse and repeat
times
or however
many cables
you have.
You want to bring
the end
of the jacket
right up
to the base
of the keystone.
You do not want
a lot
of your cable
conductors
to be exposed.
You want as little
of that
exposed cable
as possible.
If you have long
tails before you
punch it down,
that’s not
a big deal.
You’re going
to take
each one
individually
and make sure
you match up
the colors
like we’ve talked
about before.
Lay them all
across.
That way
you’re prepared
for your punch down
or your punch
down tool.
And in this case,
with our nice
all in one,
we’re just going
to slide that
in and crimp
all eight
conductors
at the same time.
Throw away
the tails.
And as you
can see that
jacket is right up
at the keystone.
Always remember
to put your
retaining clip
on the keystone.
It’s
very important.
That keeps
the pairs
from pulling loose
as easily
if that cable
ever gets
pulled on.
Now we just rinse
and repeat over
and over again
for
every single cable
until we get
all of them
punched down
and attached
to the patch panel.
Then we can
start testing
to verify
we punch
everything down
correctly.
Moment of truth.
Time to
start testing
and see how
well I terminated
everything.
And
we got a pass…
on one.
Found one
that tested bad.
So we’re
going to see
how we
mis-wired it.
Oh, there it is.
I got the
green white
and the brown
white mixed up.
Let’s go re-test.
That one is
good now.
if you’d like to
see the video
where I actually
install
the backboard
and the
network rack
that you see
in this video.
At the end here,
there’s going to be
two cards above.
One of those cards
will be
that backboard
installation video.
and if you’re
curious to just see
some other examples
of service calls from field nation alternative companies
that you can see
on Field
Nation
and WorkMarket
and these
other platforms,
there will be
another card
that shows
a playlist
for my
example service
calls.
As always,
if you got value
out of this, please
subscribe
to the channel, hit
that like button.
let’s get you out
in the field
making money.
I’ll see you in
the next video.