I usually don’t blog about my business since it’s burned me once before bad. From time to time, I will post something, but I try to be very generally as I can. Well today I got a call that I had to blog about it.

I get a call stating the client couldn’t connect to their QuickBooks from another computer. I asked a few questions and told them I’d be there at a specific time. Based on what I was told I figured either their patch cord was bad or the NIC went out. Easy fix and I grabbed one of each on the way out the door. When I got there, I quickly noticed the place was getting remodeled. Heavy work was being done downstairs. I was shown the computer and immediately replaced the patch cord with mine. Nothing. I put their cable back and then asked where the hub was. The client took me downstairs to phone switch and there lay the switch. No light on it’s port. I swapped the cable from the switch and patch box. Nothing. I went back up to the computer and installed my USB NIC and tried with my cable plugged into and I got a power light but no connection light. Ok, had to be either the patch box upstairs or the one downstairs or the thing in-between them. That would be over four hundred feet of cable!

So here was my problem. No matter which one of those issues it was, I was unprepared for it. Again, based on what I heard on the phone, I never considered patch boxes or cable issues. In fact, it sounded as if the switch was near by the computer. So I had no cable or my RJ-45 tools. What was I going to do? Drive back and get them? Well the Lord had it all worked out. As I’m explaining what I believed could be the problem, the contractors here me and come over. They ask if I need new cable ran. I said yes. They asked what kind. I told them CAT5. He walked over to the corner of the room and picked up a box and said, “This?” He was hold a CAT5e box! “Yes!” I exclaimed and he told me, “Ok, I’ll run it now. It’ll take me 10 minutes. Show me where to go.” I couldn’t believe it!! I showed him where the termination points would be and realized that I still was up a creek without my crimp tools. But when I got to the patch box, I noticed the RJ-45 jack was a, yup, tool-less bind!! Woo hoo!! I was totally set!

The contractor ran the cable and in about ten minutes after that, my client had full connectivity again. He told me, “You’re awesome!” No, really, Jesus is. I mean without Him supplying those items, it would have been a loooong afternoon and one that may have not gotten that response in the end.

To further add to this story, I talked to the owner and pitched my support contract. I told him I’d zero out today’s visit if he went with a one year contract. His response, “Sign me up!”

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