Installing cable isn't rocket science - but neither is it trivial if you haven't done it before. IME, companies that baulk at spending the several hundred dollars a drop misunderstand what they're buying.
What that sum should include is correctly installed, tested and documented cable and connection hardware. Among other things, what you're paying for is the installer's experience, training and the cost of the test equipment to verify the installation is Cat5e compliant.
With sound cable plant, the offsetting savings should be:
- no employee downtime due to inability to access the IT services they need to accomplish their everyday work because of cable faults.
- your time. You should not have to approach every network problem by first having to trace & test the physical layer. When something has to be moved, you should not have to first trace the cables.
That said, if you must install yourself, find an experienced cable installer and work with him on a job or two (evenings, weekends or whatever). There are quite a few potential pitfalls, and by doing this you should avoid the worst of them.
I'm not familiar with the UK scene, but if you don't know anyone in the trade, have a look on the BICSI website (
www.bicsi.org) and see which UK firms are listed.
Another possibility is that most of the larger manufacturers such as AMP, Avaya and Nordx run courses in how to install their products.
