I-zheet M'drurz wrote:
Jeffrey J. Kosowsky wrote:


3. How much cable slack should we ask the electrician to leave at
the jack and patch panel ends?


At the jack, 18"-24" gives you enough room to work with it.
Any less is frugal and inconvenient, any more is a waste.

At the patch panel end, try to plan ahead, have the backboard
and punchdown blocks mounted, try to have a couple of big "loop"
rings ("p-hooks?") at the point where all cabling will arrive at
the board, use them for both neatness and some basic strain
relief. From that point, figure the distance at worst case that
it would take the cable to make it arund the board and get to
the furthest termination spot on the punch block(s). The
fundamental rule always applies: You can always loop and tie
some excess cable, but you can't stretch what you don't have.


4 Can one for example leave a pull-wire?


***ALWAYS*** leave a pull wire. The first time you pull, when you
add a cable 3 months from now, pull a piece back through with the
new cable, repeat as necessary FOREVER.


5. Any other words of wisdom?


Try to find a few installations where you can take a few minutes
and look at the patch panels to see how they do things. Find
a neat one and one that looks like an exploded rat's nest, and
soak up the differences. Consistency counts. Have a plan.


Some samples can be found at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/homephotos
and bigger installations at http://www.dslreports.com/forum/bbphotos