Category Cable | Progressive Office Cabling

Office Cabling for Performance and Efficiency – Part 2

31 May 2018

Office Cabling Network Data Cabling As discussed in Part 1, office space has become very valuable and costly in many cities. Some companies will need to implement space optimization, and designing their structured cabling network is a good place to start. Part 2 will discuss Cabling System Performance and Densification of Networks.

Cabling System Performance

The TIA 568 standard sets the limit for runs of copper cable to 90 meters (295 feet) from floor distributor to workstations. Exceeding this length will cause greater signal losses or insertion loss and delay limitations due to the Ethernet protocol, which can decrease the performance of the network.

An expansive floor size with a proper number of floor distributors will oftentimes result in cables longer than 90 meters and greater insertion losses. Moreover, short cable runs are affected by crosstalk and return loss.

Due to the increasing implementation of 2.5, 5G, and 10G Ethernet, along with the newest high performance WAP (wireless access points), it is crucial to install a category cable, such as CAT6A, capable of handling higher bandwidth demands in the future.

Densification of Networks

Horizontal distributor optimization inside the equipment room will result in increased floor space and improved network densification. The optimization of floor distributors can improve the usage of LAN Ethernet switches, minimizing intra-building backbone runs. Implementing optimized distributor placement will ease the management of the network and increase reliability.

The use of fiber and copper panels with higher port density should also be considered by network managers. One way to gauge design efficiency is to calculate the number of ports per unit of rack space. This assessment will result in the optimization of rack space, decreasing racks and maximizing floor space.

Using wall-mounted panels for terminating cables and easing their management should also be considered. This will also ensure the prioritization of LAN equipment and fiber panels for rack space. This method suits companies who desire the convergence of building applications and IP networks.

Progressive Office Cabling

Founded in 1986, Progressive Office’s success has been a direct result of years of commitment to seeking solutions on behalf of our clients in the Washington, D.C. and New York City areas. Efficiently working together, Progressive teams get cabling installed and operating as fast as possible while minimizing disruption and downtime. Call our toll free number (800) 614-4560 today.

Comparing Cat 7 to the Other Cats

3 Mar 2017

Stu Kushner

Data cabling, network cabling Nowadays offices and homes utilize either a wireless (Wi-Fi) connection or wired network connection. Usually faster than Wi-Fi, wired connections also have lower latency. These two types of network connection continue to progress technologically, providing users ever increasing speeds.

In the case of home networks, the speed of the internet connection is typically the issue, and the cabling may not be a factor. However, a company must consider the specifications of particular cables and how these would meet its requirements in order to properly decide which to select. There can be a vast difference between the network speeds of the various Ethernet cables.

Types

Cables are differentiated by standard categories. Category has been abbreviated to “Cat” by the industry. Currently, the most common cables in use are Cat 5, Cat 5e, Cat 6, and Cat 6a. The newest type is Cat 7. Every type is backward compatible, allowing users to insert a newer cable into a device that was manufactured for an older cable without any compatibility issues arising.

Progress

With every new cable category, users were provided increased speed and decreased crosstalk. Newer category cables provided faster speeds at increased lengths of cable. The following offers comparisons at 100 meters of cable, illustrating the differences between the ethernet cable categories:

Cat 5 - Considered slow and inadequate for business networks, providing up to 100 Mb/second at 100 Mhz.

Cat 5e - provides up to 1 Gb/second internet speed at 100 Mhz.

Cat 6 -provides up to 1 Gb/second, and cable lengths up to 55 meters can give internet speeds of 10 Gb/second at 250

Cat 6a -can provides speeds up to 10 Gb/second, to 100 meters of cable length, at 500 Mhz.

Cat 7 - provides speeds up to 10 Gb/second to 100 meters of cable, at 600 Mhz.

History

Cat 5 was the standard in 1995, Cat 5e became standard in 2001, and Cat 6 was introduced in 2002. Arriving in 2008, Cat 6a is typically the newest cable the majority of companies have used because it is not considered necessary to update to Cat 7 yet. Cat 7a and Cat 8, which were respectively released in 2010 and 2013, are still waiting in the wings.

Union Network Cabling

When union work requires a unionized cabling group, call on Union Network Cabling for your commercial Cat5e/6/6a and fiber cabling projects. We specialize in cabling for data, voice, security and even the latest WiFi and LiFi solutions. Phone: (202) 462-4290