outdoor install notes

Outdoor Install Notes Over the years I have noticed that the majority of network analysts I encounter have worked on indoor installations. Installing equipment outside is totally different. When you’re inside you have the luxury of keeping things dry and all and the advantage of environmental and power controls. Things to keep in mind when you to install things outside is obviously weather protection, grounding, and ensuring that what you install is accessible when it comes to service or upgrading equipment. At a bare minimum get familiar with the IP (ingress protection) ratings. Ingress Protection (IP) ratings are defined in the IEC 60529 standard using a standardized scale where the IP prefix is followed by two numbers: the first number represents protection against solids and the second number represents protection against liquids. There are also national or regional equivalents of the standard such as ANSI 60529 (United States) and EN 60529 (Europe). Anybody who installs equipment outside should take the time to speak with the vendor, take a course, or pick somebody’s brain before they plan anything. There a lot of outdoor connector options, so do your homework, especially if you decide to do with something other than what the vendor provides or suggests.

15 years ago, I got into installing wireless radios outside and spent a lot of time with the HAM operators in my area as well as their installers. I would be willing to bet that the majority of the information, tips and tricks they shared isn’t in any book or course. Everything from crimping, to different kinds of sealant, tapes, placement, running a line, lightning arrestors, grounding etc…. I’ve seen many equipment installs fail outside due to a lack of knowledge by the installer or design flaws. If the equipment is going to fail, it will fail when the weather is bad. And guess what? You’re going to have to go outside and work on equipment in the middle of a rain storm, snow storm, ice storm, or any type of storm. And there is a pretty good chance that shortcuts will be taken during the service call to “get things back up ASAP”. I had an arrangement with an outdoor installer that whenever a service call was made on critical network equipment, there would be an informal review, or site visit (when possible) to ensure things are labeled and “done right”. Today we have zoom, facetime, etc.. so there is no excuse to revisit any work that has been performed be it service calls or installation. In this video, I cover an example of ensuring that your Ethernet connectors are tight and try. https://youtu.be/ReuXXUg1RU0 For those of you who are eagle eyed, you might notice the cable in the video is not shielded, and you would be correct. Unfortunately, the camera and switch did not have shielded ports, so a shielded cable would have done nothing to help. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReuXXUg1RU0