04.01.2008 — Are you testing the integrity of every wire you run in a home?

Unfortunately, many integrators do not, and this can lead to potentially frustrating and expensive service callbacks.

That level of testing, however, which has been done on the commercial side for many years, is not prevalent on the residential side.

JDSU, a communications and test measurement manufacturer, wants to change that.

The company, which purchased Test-Um back in 2006, believes signal testing can play a vital role in helping residential technicians attain a competitive advantage and ensure reliable network performance.

Moreover, JDSU believes that, if a technician has the proper tool in hand, troubleshooting and testing can be done quickly and efficiently.

"Residential installers are not always held to the same standards as with a commercial building," says Assaji Aluwihare, general manager of JDSU's Network and Enterprise Test unit.

"Installations for commercial projects generally adhere to TIA568 standards, whereas residential work often becomes more a matter of speed certification for each drop in the home network."

Aluwihare adds that, in the past, residential installers mainly installed wiring for voice applications.

"Going forward, installers are going to have to be more sophisticated. With media centers and home offices, certification of the link speed becomes an important test for residential installers.

"It is no longer just a matter of seeing if a cable goes to the right place. Installers must now test drops to handle larger bandwidth applications."

Testing signals becomes even more critical as more homes are connected to VoIP or other high-bandwidth, IP-based triple-play service offerings.

So what sort of test equipment does an integrator need in his toolbox? Aluwihare suggests:

Basic cable test units to check wiring integrity and to detect faults, such as shorts and miswires.

Tone and probe units, which are necessary to trace cables, as well as units to map coax cables and to verify the integrity of Ethernet services.

A wireless network analyzer to install, expand and operate IEEE 802.11 wireless networks.

An Ethernet speed certifier to confirm the speed of each circuit, to document drops and to provide reports to the owner of the installation.

In general, Aluwihare recommends lightweight test units with a good battery life that are intuitive, easy to use and able to integrate with software packages for producing documentation.

"For higher-speed networks, it is clearly important that the integrators assume a higher attention to detail," he adds.

"There are more drops in each residence and more high-speed, IP-based applications (including VoIP) in homes today. For the integrator to be successful, 'install, test and forget about it' is how the cabling installation should proceed."

JDSU purchased Test-Um to expand the company's set of premise wiring test solutions. Throughout 2008, the Test-Um name will be phased out through a rebranding program.

It is now called the Network & Enterprise Test business unit, and products, such as the TestifierPRO and LanScaperPRO, are being relaunched under the JDSU brand and color schemes.