In development · For engineers who inherit a cable plant they did not specify

Work out whether the link will run before you order the parts.

Wireline means copper, fiber, and the optics on both ends. Wireless is a different course. Somebody hands you three buildings, a 10 Gig uplink into each one, and a note saying the fiber is already in the ground so there is no cable budget. This course is the arithmetic that answers that. You work out whether a run passes at the speed you need, compute a loss budget and keep a margin, pick a transceiver that clears both the distance and the budget, and read the diagnostics when a link comes up and is still wrong.

Coming soonSee the courses you can start today

This course is still being written. 9 lessons are drafted so far. The outline below is what it covers. You cannot buy it yet, and nothing on this page opens it.

9
lessons
3
modules
Alpha
in development

Who it is for

Who should take this

You inherit cable plants you did not specify and get asked to run something faster over them. You have had a 10 Gig uplink refuse to come up on fiber that was already there.

Learning objectives

What you will be able to do

  • Say whether an installed run carries the speed you need, and what the cheapest remedy is when it does not.
  • Compute the loss budget on a fiber route and state the margin you are keeping.
  • Pick a transceiver that clears the distance and the loss budget, which are two separate checks.

Key outcomes

What you leave with

Copper, fiber, and optics in order

You cover what a copper channel can carry, what the installed fiber can still do as speeds rise, and how to choose the transceiver. Nine lessons, each one ending in work you do yourself.

Numbers with a source on them

Every standards figure the course uses is cited to a published document, with the date it was read. Where a value sits behind a paywall, the course says so and teaches you to pull it from your own vendor's specification sheet instead of borrowing one.

Not an installation course

There is no splicing, no termination, no cable pulling, and no test equipment. The course stops at specifying the number correctly and catching it when it comes back wrong.

Curriculum

What is in the course

This is the outline as it stands today. Lessons get added and moved while a course is being written, so it will change.

  1. 1. The Copper

    3 lessons

    A category is a distance limit, not a speed rating, and the limit moves once the bundle is dressed and carrying power. These three lessons cover what a copper channel can carry, what shortens it, and what a link looks like when it comes up at the wrong settings and passes a ping anyway.

    • A cable category is a distance limit, not a speed rating.
    • PoE heats a bundle, and heat shortens the usable run.
    • A link can come up at the wrong speed and duplex and still pass a ping.

  2. 2. The Fiber

    3 lessons

    The same strand carries less distance every time the speed goes up, and nothing about the glass changed. These three lessons cover what the installed fiber can still carry, the loss arithmetic that decides whether a link closes, and why polarity is a property of the whole channel rather than of one cable.

    • The fiber that carried 10 Gig across the campus will not carry 40 Gig that far.
    • A loss budget is the arithmetic that decides whether the link closes.
    • Polarity belongs to the whole channel, not to one cable.

  3. 3. The Optic

    3 lessons

    Reach and loss budget are two separate checks and a link can pass one and fail the other. These three lessons cover picking the transceiver, choosing between a direct attach cable and an optic, and what to do when the plant runs out of strands.

    • An optic inside its rated reach can still fail the loss budget.
    • Choosing between a DAC, an AOC, and an optic with a patch cord.
    • When you run out of strands, BiDi and WDM are the two answers.

Requirements

What you need before you start

  • CCNA level knowledge. If you know what a switch port and an uplink are, you have enough to start.
  • This is not exam preparation. It does not track any exam blueprint and it will not get you a certification.
  • No installation background. You will never be asked to touch a tool.

Not finished yet

There is nothing to buy here yet. The finished courses are on the catalog page. The main course has free lessons you can start with a local account.

See the catalogTry the free lessons

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