Cat6 Cable | Progressive Office Cabling

Cat6 Cabling: What’s the Difference?

17 Jan 2013

Cabling is an evolutionary process. New challenges require new capabilities, and based on past trends and future projections, data rates will double about every 18 months. Running applications at 1 Gb/s pushes the limits of category 5e cabling, so doubling the bandwidth is like adding two or more lanes on a highway – you get faster and more efficient data “traffic flow”.

Streaming media applications such as video and multi-media are now commonplace, so the demand for faster data rates are increasing. These new applications will require the higher bandwidth of category 6 cabling.

Cat6 Installation Tips

9 Jan 2013

Stu Kushner

Always study and document the required cabling layout and the distances between the equipment to be cabled before starting a Cat6 cable installation.

Refer to ANSI/TIA/ EIA 606 Document for color coding the different functions used in the system guidance. Use either PVC or plenum cable as required depending on where the cables are run. Fiber optic and/or copper cable may be required depending on the transmission speed and type of equipment.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Cabling Lessons Learned

14 Dec 2012

Stu Kushner

A magnetic field when running low voltages. Unfortunately, when this unshielded cabling creates a magnetic field created. Any electrical cabling bear by disrupts communication, slowing transmission or preventing Network cabling is a tricky. Even with a solid background, technicians without adequate knowledge and training can make mistakes that may shut down an entire system. Here are some typical mistakes seen in network cabling.

Plan for the Future. Cat5 may be the cheaper option, but can cause problems when upgrading is needed. Install Cat5e or Cat6 cables with options for upgrades to save labor costs.

Don’t Mix and Match. Twisted pair cabling was often out of the price range for many companies, so priority was given to data, while voice had with cheaper cabling. Now, VoIP has made voice equal to data in importance and need. Fortunately, a typical VoIP phone has a built-in Ethernet connection or pass-thru that is compatible with almost any data cable, which decreases installation costs.

Don't put Electrical Cables Next to Data Cables. Data cables use twisted pairs of wires inside that help produce transmissions altogether. This generally happens when the cables are running parallel, so if your cable is near a power line, lay them perpendicular to the power line.

Not Laying New Cable When You Need To. Ethernet switches are convenient, but can be misused. Mini-switches are often added to provide a few extra ports; but this can cause bottlenecks and instability. Add extra cable instead, if more network resources are needed.

Forgetting Cable Management. “Ladder racks” add extra cost to an installation, but they also make the installation look better, run better, and easier to maintain and update. Also, don't forget to color code or label your cables, so technicians can actually find the right cable later.

International Cooperating Ministries – Cabling Project Notes

20 Aug 2012

Stu Kushner

Project Objectives and Details based on site survey by Richard Elbe

Number of Drops: 110 total cable drops

47 double network drops

1 single network drop

3 network printer drops

3 media box wallplates with (2 HDMI, 2 VGA and 3 RCA Jacks)

Ceiling: Non-plenum, separate ducting allows for Cat6 PVC cable rather than the more expensive plenum cable.

Racks: 6' x 19" Relay Rack

Switches: Five 24,port Netgear Gigabit switches that will leave room for 4 ports per switch for future expansion of the network.

Residential Network Cabling Solutions

17 Jan 2011

Stu Kushner

Office Cabling, Network Cabling Home networking is essential for quick and convenient access to music, data and video files and for the ability to share access to important pieces of equipment like scanners and printers. A home that contains multiple PCs for personal, school and work can greatly benefit from residential network cabling.

Just because your home has fewer PCs than your office and there are fewer people using them, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your residential networking cabling will be an easier project. Don’t assume that just because your walls don’t contain metal studs and that your floor isn’t poured concrete that your home network cabling job will be a walk in the park.

Office Network Cabling,Cat6 Cable, Network Patch Cable

Determining Your Office Network Cabling Needs

14 Jan 2011

Stu Kushner

Office Cabling, Network CablingNetwork Patch Cable A faster office is a more productive office right? That means, because you wish your computer equipment to operate at the speed of light, that Cat6 cable is the only way to go – or is it?

Just because you are making upgrades to faster equipment office wide, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have to invest in Cat6 cable. It’s true that Cat6 has twice the bandwidth of Cat5 and that it is far superior in performance than either Cat5 or Cat5e. Cat6 is also capable of transferring data at a much faster rate, but in most regular office applications Cat5e is more than capable of handling the required workload.

Your new computers, internet service and office communication system may be much faster than the one that you are replacing, but that’s not the only thing to consider when selecting a networking cable. If you aren’t transferring exceedingly large amounts of data or operating virtual PCs, Cat6 cable may be much more cable than you need and cost much more money than you need to spend.

Network Cabling, Data Cabling ,Cat5e ,Cat6/6a Cabling

Computer Network Patch Panel

23 Dec 2009

Stu Kushner

Network Cabling ,Data Cabling, Cat5e, Cat6/6a Cabling A patch panel is an in-line series of connections mounted onto a frame to enable network cables to be terminated in an orderly manner. Typically, the panel is the termination point of network cabling drops that are installed in a office or residential cabling system.It is numbered and comes in 12-port, 24-port, 48-port and 96-port configurations. The numbering of the panel ports allows for the network installer to label the wallplates to match the corresponding connection at the patch panel.

Patch panels are most commonly used for computer data networks but as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) phone systems become more common, we are seeing phone systems being terminated into panels. They are wall or rack-mounted. In small offices, a 12 or 24-port patch panel might be wall-mounted to a wooden mounting board. Larger office networks will usually require a rack mounted series of panels.

The patch panel comes in Cat5, Cat5e and Cat6 types to match the cable being installed. The connections on the panel are RJ45 that are designed to allow for a cable to "punch-downed" into the connector. The connector has 8 punch down points to accommodate the 4-pairs of wires in a Cat5/6 cable.

Cat6 Cabling – Usage and Methods

24 Sep 2009

Stu Kushner

Category6

Category 6 cable, commonly referred to as Cat6, is a cable standard for Gigabit Ethernet and other network protocols that is backward compatible with the Category 5/5e standards. Cat6 features more stringent specifications for crosstalk and system noise. The cable standard provides performance of up to 250 MHz and is suitable for 100BaseTX and 1000BaseT (Gigabit) Ethernet.

The cable contains four twisted copper wire pairs, just like earlier copper cable standards. Although Cat6 is sometimes made with 23 gauge wire, this is not a requirement; the specification states the cable may be made with 22 to 24 AWG wire, so long as the cable meets the specified testing standards. When used as a patch cable, Cat6 is normally terminated with an 8P8C modular connector, commonly referred to as an "RJ-45" connector. Cat6 connectors are made to higher standards that help reduce noise caused by crosstalk and system interference.

Some Cat6 cables are too large and may be difficult to attach to RJ45 connectors without a special modular piece and are technically not standard compliant. If components of the various cable standards are intermixed, the performance of the signal path will be limited to that of the lowest category. The maximum allowed length of a Cat6 cable is 100 meters (330 ft).

The cable is terminated in either the T568A scheme or the T568B scheme. It doesn't make any difference which is used, as they are both straight through (pin 1 to 1, pin 2 to 2, etc). Mixing T568A-terminated patch cords with T568B-terminated horizontal cables (or the reverse) does not produce pinout problems in a facility. Although it may vary slightly or sometimes degrade signal quality, this effect is marginal and certainly no greater than that produced by mixing cable brands in-channel. The T568B Scheme is by far the most widely used method of terminating patch cables.

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Choosing between Cat5e and Cat6 at your Office

24 Apr 2009

Stu Kushner

Trends

The trend is towards higher speeds, of course. Offices have faster computers, faster Internet and more demanding applications. But does this translate into a need for Cat6 cable?

Category 5e and Cat6 Cable

Cat 5e cable is an enhanced version of Cat 5 that adds specifications for far end crosstalk. Cat 5e cable does not enable longer cable distances for Ethernet networks: cables are still limited to a maximum of 100m (328 ft) in length. Each Cat 5e cable can carry up to 100mb/sec of data.

Cat 6 cable carries 1gb/sec of data and therefore has 10 times the data capacity of Cat 5e.

The Decision Considerations

Cat 6 will not make your Internet speeds faster. Even at fiber speeds, the Internet still only runs at a fraction of Cat 5 speeds. Cat 6 will also not make VOIP phones were better because VOIP uses only 60-90k per phone line. So, VOIP is a very unlikely reason for using Cat6 cabling

The only reason for using Cat 6 is because you are pushing a lot of data over your cable. This is true when you are running applications off of a server as in the case of a virtual PC environment where applications do not reside on the local desktop system. It is also true when you have applications that have very large data files as in CAD/CAM and other demanding graphic design systems.

A secondary, yet important, consideration is cost. Cat 6 cable is twice as expensive as Cat 5e and it also r

equires Cat 6 jacks, inserts, patch panels and switches. This can add considerably to the overall cost of a project. Any Cat 5 component will slow the connection down to 100mb.

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