Design Install

Much obliged: Cabling photos

April 2, 2021

ICT installation technicians and cabling contractors can definitely say one thing in response to the perennial mounds of "cable fail" they find in the field.

Matt Vincent

ICT installation and design technicians and cabling contractors can definitely say one thing in response to the perennial mounds of "cable fail" they find in the field, as frequently seen on social media at Reddit's photo sub-communities dedicated to such minor monstrosities:

Thanks for the job security...

"Thanks, I hate this cable management." -- Reddit/Cablegore OP [orig. poster]: u/ciscofan

"Hospital IT closet. Was like this since before I was hired. I feel obligated to properly route new cables when I need to run a patch. At least 70% of that rat’s nest isn’t plugged in on at least one end. Tracing anything in here is a test of patience and determination. The front isn’t nearly as bad. My guess on the back side is that it’s at least 10 years of people being lazy and just pulling connections out of the block and not bothering to clean up the dead cable. I tried to clean up what I could, but I gave up because a) it’s so tight through the metal bracket above the block that you can’t get anything out and b) it’s not my job." -- Reddit/Cablegore OP: u/pmartin1

"When the hospital says biomed can move a switch to a new rack. This isn’t even that bad, but any hospital data closet looks like this and worse. It sucks especially due to a hospital having like 20+ of these closets." -- Reddit/Cablegore OP: u/Kogggy

"Un-closable rack? ✅ Wire hammock? ✅ Screwdriver punch-down? ✅" -- Reddit/Cablegore OP: u/ryandutch13

"Worked on another POS the IT crew left behind." -- Reddit/Cablefail OP: u/Horsetoothedjackass

"Not how I wanted my only box of cable to go today." -- Reddit/Cablefail OP: u/tomcat13

Send your must-see cabling photos to [email protected].

About the Author

Matt Vincent | Senior Editor

Matt Vincent is a B2B technology journalist, editor and content producer with over 15 years of experience, specializing in the full range of media content production and management, as well as SEO and social media engagement best practices, for both Cabling Installation & Maintenance magazine and its website CablingInstall.com. He currently provides trade show, company, executive and field technology trend coverage for the ICT structured cabling, telecommunications networking, data center, IP physical security, and professional AV vertical market segments. Email: [email protected]