How do I label the network ports in our office?

We have a new office that was punched down with Ethernet in every office and every cubicle. The electrician didn't mark the ports on the patch panel or the wall ports, so I don't know where say port 1 on the patch panel goes in the office.

I've heard of people using a tone generator to figure out where the cables are but I'm not sure what that entails. I was also thinking of looking up ARP entries on our switches to find out what port is getting what MAC address and then cross referencing it with a list of MAC addresses on all of the PCs in the office. This sounds unreliable though.

Is there a quick and easy way to label these ports?

Solution 1:

You're better off using a tone generator/probe kit. It's going to be quicker in the long run and less prone to incorrect results.

I would suggest using a different wiring contractor next time and specifiying that you need them to label the ports at the jack and the patch panel.

Solution 2:

Check whether or not the job specs have actually been met, as it may be possible to get the electricians back to finish the job.

Either way, I suspect that if the points aren't labelled no testing was done either, so if you need to obtain a cable tracer (probe & injector) try and get one that will perform at least basic tests as well.

Using a tracer is child's play. Plug the injector into a port and then use the probe to follow the signal. It's only when you need to work in tight bundles that things can become a little tricky.

In the future, if you get a say in it, ensure the job specs include proper testing and labeling, not just running the cables. The relatively small extra cost is well justified and can save you many hours of frustration.