You've run the correct pure copper Cat6a cable, maintained clearances from power, and terminated the outlets. You plug the cable into the laptop, the light turns on and you have internet. Job done, right?
For an amateur, perhaps. For a telecommunications engineer, the job isn't over until the measuring instruments talk. The fact that a network "plays" at 100 Mbps today does not mean that it can carry 10 Gbps without losing data packets, nor that it will safely handle the power (PoE) requirements of new Access Points.
This is where Network Certification comes into play, popularly known in the trade as the Fluke Test (after the leading instrument manufacturer). Let's see why the cheap €15 tester is not enough, what exactly the engineers measure, and why a "PASS" paper is the absolute guarantee of your renovation.
The tool most electricians use is a simple Wiremap Tester. It has 8 LED lights. All it does is send a little current from one end to the other to confirm that the orange wire connects to the orange connector. That is, it tells you if there is electrical continuity.
The Cable Certifier (such as the Fluke DSX series, which often costs over €10,000) is an electronic RF computer. It doesn't just look to see if the wires come together. It transmits signals at extremely high frequencies (eg 500 MHz for Cat6a) and "stresses" the copper to its limits to see how the physics of the cable behaves under conditions of maximum load (Traffic).
When the instrument is connected to both ends of a wall outlet and Patch Panel, it performs dozens of complex checks in seconds. The most important parameters that determine whether the network will pass the tests are the following:
The Ethernet protocol allows a maximum permanent link length of 90 meters (plus 10 meters for patch cords, total 100). The instrument sends out a pulse, measures the time it takes to bounce back (Time Domain Reflectometry), and tells you with centimeter accuracy how long the cable is hidden inside the wall, even pinpointing exactly where there is a kink!
This is the number one reason a certification fails. As we have seen, the cable has 4 pairs. When one pair emits a strong signal, it creates a magnetic field that "overflows" and "taints" the adjacent pairs.
As the signal travels through the copper, it gradually loses its energy (fades) due to the natural resistance of the metal.
Reason: If the cable is CCA (aluminum) instead of pure copper, or if the ambient temperature is too high, the insertion loss becomes excessive and the signal arrives effectively "dead" at the other end.
Think of the signal as light traveling down an optical tube. If the tube is bumped or kinked, some of the light is reflected back to the source.
Cause: Bad termination in the socket, a factory defect in the cable, or an electrician pulling the cable through the conduit with excessive force and distorting its geometry.
Many people think that the Fluke Test is only for Data Centers and banks. In fact, it is your "insurance policy".
At the end of the work, the engineer doesn't just tell you "it's ok". Exports a detailed PDF (or hard copy) from the instrument.
There you will find a chart for each outlet in your home (eg "Living Room Outlet 1"). If the measurement is within international permissible limits, a large green PASS is displayed. If there is a problem, a red FAIL is displayed with the exact reason (eg "NEXT problem on Pair 3.6 at 15m distance"). The installer cuts the outlet, rewires it properly, and repeats the test until it gets the green light.
Structured copper cabling is the backbone of the smart building. By choosing Cat6a from 100% pure copper, maintaining the correct distances from the power cables (230V), using quality Keystones in a Star topology and "locking" the installation with an official Fluke certification, you have created a technological infrastructure that will survive and support every future generation of computers and devices.
End of Class A: We have completed the internal wiring of the house with copper.
Next Step: Copper is perfect for inside the home, but how does super-high speed get from your telco to your doorstep?
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