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Case Study of Extend Internet to Mall Retail Suite

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Project Name:
Demarc Extension at Tacoma Mall

Client Name:
Our customer is Granite. End user (store name) is Vans

Installation Date Occurred on:
9/29/22

The job started at:
8:00 AM

The job finished at:
11:30 AM

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Case of the Wrong Demarc at Tacoma Mall

Clearnet was requested to complete the specified work at the standard time and materials rates, but additional travel time was not approved and so a different contractor was awarded this work in early September 2022.

Introduction To The Problem

Clearnet was solicited by the same customer to troubleshoot and repair a down internet circuit at the Tacoma Mall

Research

A Clearnet technician was dispatched to site and began investigating the outage. Upon arrival, the technician confirmed that the circuit was not working and requested information from the site contact regarding the outage.

The customer stated that a different contractor had been on site to pull a new cable to install the new internet circuit, but that the previous technician did not successfully complete the scope of work. The Clearnet technician began to investigate further by tracing the recently installed cable to determine where it originated from. 

With multiple Demarc closets in the mall, it appeared that the previous installer ran the cable from the nearest Demarc closet and left the cable at both ends. The new circuit was never connected to the new cable because the circuit was located in a different Demarc closet from the one that the first cable was ran from.

Challenges

A call was made to the project manager and details regarding the previous installation were provided to illustrate why the circuit was not working and what would be required for the circuit to be correctly connected to the customer’s network equipment. Upon being made aware of the situation, Clearnet was authorized to dispatch two technicians to perform the work, with additional travel approved.

Customer’s needs include

Cat 6 cable run from Demarc to suite to extend internet circuit, including;

Plenum rated Cat 6 Cable pulled end to end, terminate RJ45 outlets at both ends

  1. Cable must be run through existing conduit
  2. Cable installation requires two men
  3. Pathway requires multiple firewall penetrations
  4. New cable supports required

Must terminate near customer’s circuit in Demarc closet

Must extend to customer’s network equipment rack

Must patch into internet provider’s hand off in Demarc

Must patch from new cable to customer’s network equipment

Must prove internet access with surf and speed test

Must test, label and photograph all work

A new Cat 6 cable was pulled in from the Demarc where the customer’s internet circuit was located, to the customer’s network equipment rack within their suite at the mall. This required additional length of cable and added time to complete because of firewalls, occupied conduits and limited access in the back corridors of the mall.

This work was to be performed at a local area mall with multiple (15) Demarc closets located throughout the mall due to size and cable length considerations, ideally with customer Demarc hand offs provided nearest the customer’s suite.

Solutions By Clearet

Once the cable was terminated, tested and labeled, the circuit was extended to the new cable via Cat 6 patch cord in the Demarc and another Cat 6 patch cord was connected at the customer’s equipment rack to connect the new cable and circuit to the customer’s firewall, enabling the internet access in the suite as requested.

Clearnet’s team of technicians have experience to know not to pull the cable to the closest closet if that’s not where the circuit originates from. In this case, Clearnet’s installers would have saved the customer time, money and anxiety from going without internet access for weeks after it should have been working. We recommend using Clearnet for all Demarc extensions in malls and other office environments where multiple tenants are served and connection points are not always obvious.

About
Clearnet

FAQs 

No. We make the internet in your office work for everyone inside by extending it from the incoming source to each device and workstation that needs access to the internet or internal devices within the network.
Yes. We can fusion splice the fiber optic strands at the point of failure or replace either a segment or the entire span of cable depending on the situation, time line and costs of each. We can install an aerial or underground splice case or wall mounted splice enclosure depending on the application.
Possibly. We will request a site survey to see the actual site conditions to make the determination. Often the existing cables are worth re-using if relatively new & in good condition, however often times the cables are of mixed types, poorly installed, not labeled & may be in need of updating or completely removed and replaced with new.
It is best to have a single cable type for consistency purposes, however others have used dedicated patch panel types or with flexible ports to accommodate each of the cable types that need to be terminated and patched into. A survey will be best to see the quality of the cable, the installation, supports, etc. Each case is unique and should be evaluated independently to determine what is best for networking purposes.
No. Plenum refers to the rating of the outer jacket on the cable and conductors. It is made to produce less toxic fumes at higher temperatures than standard indoor cable. The transmission speeds are the same when comparing plenum vs riser. Plenum rated cable comes with a premium cost, so it is generally used where required but avoided when not required by code.
Possibly. VoIP telephones require data grade cable to work properly. Your VoIP provider may have specific cable requirements but generally a 100 Mb/Sec throughput will suffice. Often the PC is patched to the telephone to share a single data port and save from having to run an additional data cable to each workstation. Generally, a Cat 5e cable or better will work.
In Washington State, if you are the building owner and occupant, then the state does allow for owners to pull a permit and complete the work. All other electrical installation or repair work requires a licensed electrical contractor to perform all electrical work, including telephone and data. A lot of people do their own work, however this can produced mixed results regarding network dependability as well as code compliance.
Possibly however unless all wireless devices are within signal reach of your wireless modem, then additional wires will be needed to add wireless access points. VoIP telephones are mostly wired and require power to operate. Surveillance cameras can be wireless but also need power to function properly. PoE ports can provide power and data to most devices on the network. We recommend a mixture of wireless devices combined with wired connections where power or network connections are critical.

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