Chapter 26: More Than Ten Big Network Mistakes

Just about the time you figure out how to avoid the most embarrassing computer mistakes (such as using your CD drive's tray as a cup holder), the network lands on your computer. Now you have a whole new list of dumb things you can do, mistakes that can give your average computer geek a belly laugh because they seem so basic to him. Well, that's because he's a computer geek. Nobody had to tell him not to fold the floppy disk-he was born with an extra gene that gave him an instinctive knowledge of such things.

Here's a list of some of the most common mistakes made by network novices. Avoid these mistakes and you deprive your local computer geek of the pleasure of a good laugh at your expense.

Skimping on Cable

If your network consists of more than a few computers or has computers located in different rooms, invest in a professional-quality cable installation, complete with wall-mounted jacks, patch panels, and high-quality network switches. It's tempting to cut costs by using cheap switches and by stringing inexpensive cable directly from the hubs to each computer on the network. But in the long run, that approach actually proves to be more expensive than investing in a good cable installation in the first place.

Here are just a few of the reasons it pays to do the cabling right in the first place:

• A good cable installation lasts much longer than the computers it services. A good cable installation can last 10 or 15 years, long after the computers on your network have been placed on display in a computer history museum.

• Installing cable is hard work. No one enjoys going up in the attic, poking his or her head up through ceiling panels and wiping fiberglass insulation out of his or her hair, or fishing cables through walls. If you're going to do it, do it right so you don't have to do it again in just a few years. Build your cable installation to last.

• Your network users may be satisfied with 100 Mbps networking now, but it won't be long before they demand gigahertz speed. And who knows how fast the next wave of networking will be? If you cut costs by using plain Cat5 cable instead of more expensive Cat6 cable, you'll have to replace it later.

• You might be tempted to skip the modular wall jacks and patch cables and instead just run the cable down the wall, out through a hole, and then directly to the computer or hub. That's a bad idea because the connectors are the point at which cables are most likely to fail. If a connector fails, you have to replace the entire cable-all the way up the wall, through the ceiling, and back to the switch. By wiring in a wall-jack and using a patch cable, you have to replace only the patch cable when a connector fails.

For more information about professional touches for installing cable, see Chapter 5.