Hey all!

I'm a residential, commericial, and industrial electrician. I have minimal experience with Cat 3, 5, etc... and even less experience with Fiber. My question is:

Is there any class/certification in regards to these types of wiring?
I hear the mention of fiber back bones for token ring setups and things of that nature. What's the best way to learn all the rules and appropriate way to do this type of work?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks guys!

Token Ring is over, nobody would consider upgrading an existing TR network. Vendors such as Leviton, AMP and others offer weekend training and certification courses.

Token Ring is out of style, simply because it doesn't have the speed of newer Ethernet but if you are making something where reliability is your goal it is still a valid technology. It usually takes 2 failures to crash a ring because the data can go the other way. There are no collisions so throughput is more constant. The media is also more noise tolerant and the slower speed more forgiving.
I run Ethernet every day because I handle large multimedia files but if I had a critical application without a need for blinding speed it would be T/R.

Double Post

[This message has been edited by mkoloj (edited 11-11-2005).]

I have heard Token Ring\Ethernet broken down like this:

Token Ring is like traveling by train, the packet of data waits at the station until the train comes at which time it gets on and goes where it needs to, if you miss the train you wait until the next one comes by.

Ethernet is like traveling on the highway you wait at the entrance until there is a free spot that you will fit into and you get on and go with the flow which is constantly moving in an endless stream of data.

As for training in fiber you can take a look at LightBrigade.com they have a course called Fiber Optics 1-2-3 that I am interested in taking possibly in March 06 when it comes to my area. Also just about every manufacturer has courses to certify you for their product. I know leviton has a course geared towards their residential product line. http://www.bluevolt.com/training/lin/CourseDetailsWiring.aspx

Ethernet is really like blind guys coming to an intersection. If nobody is coming they can go on through but if there is another car in the intersection there is a "collision" and everyone is in the penalty box for a while. The adapters time out at different rates until everyone stacked up gets through. In a small network with a few users that is not a problem but the more users trying to get on, the better chance for another collision.
The use of "switches" vs "hubs" helps this problem by holding the bus until the current user is done.

The token is like the train in your example but if nobody is at the trolley stop it goes around pretty fast so you don't wait long. You do get to send your packet when you get the token and it will get through.