[LINK] Wi-Fi

[Richard Chirgwin]

Indeed. What follows is a true story from the 1990s, although I can't 
remember whether the company was Synoptics or someone else ...

The occasion was a trade show at Darling Harbour, Interop or perhaps 
ATUG (back when it had exhibitions as well as its conference). The 
equipment to be demonstrated needed Ethernet cabling.

The contractor ran the cable by wrapping it around a pipe up in the open 
ceiling. Also running along the same pipe was one phase of the 
three-phase power supply; the network switch was connected to a 
different phase; and when the Ethernet port was plugged into the switch, 
it smoked. So I do think there are *some* good reasons behind cabling rules.

OK, that's an extreme example. But we have just had a national scandal 
because insulation installers got killed using a staple gun where 
there's live cabling. Can I imagine someone trying to nail a saddle for 
an Ethernet cable to a noggin, and nailing through a 240V cable they 
hadn't noticed? Easily.

RC

On 27/04/11 1:41 PM, Darrell Burkey wrote:
> On Wed, 2011-04-27 at 12:39, Fernando Cassia wrote:
>> On Tue, Apr 26, 2011 at 9:17 AM, Ash Nallawalla<ash at melbpc.org.au>  wrote:
>>> Another problem in Australia. It is illegal for anyone other than a registered electrician to cable a house, if the cable enters a wall cavity.
>> Wow, over-regulation. I´ve head of it. :)
> You might think so until you connect your computer gear to some
> improperly run network cabling that has AC voltage on it.
>
> It's a safety issue. When you run cabling you are typically working
> around a lot of other infrastructure, including power and plumbing.
> You'd be quite surprised at some of the stupid things I've seen with
> simple network cabling.
>
> Would you be comfortable living in a house where the previous owner did
> the power and plumbing DIY style?
>
> Cheers.
>