Contrary to popular belief, sticking pens and screwdrivers into the connectors rarely fixes cabling problems!
If you plug in your equipment and it doesn’t connect to the network make sure that the cable is plugged into the socket on the wall and into the corresponding port on the patch panel.
Check to see if there is a link light on the back of your PC. This is a small green or yellow light next to the RJ45 socket. If both it and the link light on the switch are illuminated it is likely that the fault is elsewhere, it may be worth rebooting your PC and moving the patch lead to another port on the switch.
If there are no lights, replace the patch and fly leads and check the above again. These are the most common points of failure. (If you need patch and fly leads we can provide these for you in just about any colour and length you can think of)
If you have tried all of the above and still have no luck, it’s probably time to call us on 01962 776915 and we will come to site with our armoury of test equipment, identify the problem and then fix it.
Contrary to popular belief, spitting on the ends of the cable and rubbing them on your T shirt is of little or no value!
The most important thing about fibre optic cabling is to keep everything really really clean; always replace covers as soon as you disconnect them. If you plug a dirty connector into a through coupler, you could be putting a nasty splodge of dirt onto the other side of the connector so the building cable will need to be professionally cleaned.
If you suspect a fibre optic patch lead may be broken, aim one end at a bright light and cup the other end in your hand, you should see two little pinpricks of light.
If you think a fibre optic link may be down, check that the media adapters both have link lights. Check to see if anyone has accessed either end recently and find out where they were working in the cabinet, this may give you a clue as to where the problem lies.
If you find that someone has been playing with the fibre it is possibly worth swapping the polarity at one end, if this doesn’t work swap it back immediately.
If you have media adapters, make sure that the Cat 5E patch leads are plugged in correctly and try swapping them for ones that are known to be working.
Try a power reset on both of the media adapters and wait a few minutes for the link to come up.
If the link doesn’t come back up it’s probably time to call us on 01962 776915 and we will come to site and sort it out for you.