Data Cabling,Structured Cabling,Washington DC

Setting Up a Campus Network

23 Jul 2017

Data Cabling,Structured Cabling,Washington DCAcademic institutions can garner all the benefits of the Internet age by integrating information and communications technology (ICT) with their teaching and learning environments. ICT is an extension of the term for information technology (IT), emphasizing the unification of telecommunications, computers, software, storage, and audio-visual components within a network.


The quality of education can be significantly improved through the sharing of skills, resources, content, and faculty development. IT content and resources should be available to both faculty and students throughout the campus. To this end, academic institutions must establish a network in each of their campuses, achieving the same speed of data transfer at each building.


Typically, a campus network is comprised of several local area networks (LANs) that are interconnected inside a specific geographical area. Networking components, such as switches, routers, and firewalls, and transmission media, such as copper cable and optical fiber, are utilized for interconnection and communication between connected devices.



Campus Network Topology


For academic institutions like colleges or universities, a campus area network should be interconnected to various types of buildings, including administrative, academic, library, student center, hostel, guest house, sports facility, conference, technology, training, and laboratory.


A campus network will be interconnected via high-speed Ethernet cabling over optical fiber of up to 10GB capability. For the efficient processing of data and information traffic using distribution, access and core segments, tiered hierarchal architecture is utilized.


Every building, block, center, and residential complex will be connected by high-speed optical fiber cable. Moreover, every node within a building will be connected with UTP copper cable that supports gigabit speed.


The conference rooms, teaching halls, and common areas inside each campus will be Wi-Fi enabled through the deployment of 802.11 based wireless access points with central authentication, permitting secure network access via laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other Wi-Fi enabled devices.


Internet services, along with common applications, will also be installed at key locations, such as library study halls, allowing students, faculty, and staff easy access via desktop computers and laptops around the clock.



Network Cabling


When  work requires a unionized cabling group, call on Progressive Office Inc.   for your commercial Cat5e/6/6a and fiber cabling projects. Specializing in cabling for data, voice, security and the latest WiFi and LiFi solutions. Phone: (202) 462-4290

CAT 6a,network cabling, DC

Gradual Phase Out of CAT5e Cabling in Office Buildings

13 Mar 2017

Class E (CAT6), Network Cabling, DCAfter their Milan working group meeting in 2015 regarding cabling standards, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), together known as the ISO/IEC, made the announcement that Category 5e (CAT5e) cabling will be considered obsolete for new installations in commercial and industrial buildings.


Setting the first international standard for cabling more than 20 years ago, ISO/IEC continually works on the development, maintenance, and promotion of technology and communications technical standards. A major change for the cabling of office buildings is now being implemented worldwide, raising the minimum horizontal cabling requirement from Class D (CAT5e) to Class E (CAT6), along with recommendations for installing Class EA (CAT6a) or faster cabling. Essentially, this will result in making CAT6 the minimum requirement for installations in new office building installations.


Providing a maximum performance of 100 MHz over computer networks, CAT5e has been utilized in structured cabling for both Ethernet and IP communications.  Considered adequate for fast Ethernet and gigabit Ethernet, CAT5e has the additional capability of carry video and telephony signals. The original ISO/IEC 11801 standard now has cabling classes that were added for enabling the support of up to 10 gigabits a second, such as CAT6, CAT6A, CAT7 and CAT7A.


CAT5 is not capable of matching the speed of data that CAT6 or CAT7 cabling can deliver. CAT6 has a maximum performance of 250 MHz, while CAT7 has a maximum performance of 600 MHz, enabling ultra-fast Ethernet. In addition, CAT7 features better durability and a longer service life than either CAT5 or CAT6 cabling.


More than 20 years have passed since ISO/IEC 11801 made its debut as an international standard, and it has led the way for the reliable implementation of data and voice cabling globally. However, CAT5e is now in the process of being phased out. Superior classes of cabling are being installed at new office buildings. Wireless LAN infrastructure is upgrading at a rapid pace, along with its speed, to keep up with the growing number of smartphones, laptops, and tablets. These demands have forced the gradual replacement of CAT5e with newer cabling that will meet current and future user expectations for fast and efficient data capability.



Union Network Cabling


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

Is it Practical to Use Cat6 Cable?

26 Apr 2015

cat 6,structured cabling, Data CablingData volume has grown extensively. Also, the processing capacity to users continues to get grow. Specialists in data management forecast that information production will be 44 times larger in five years with enterprises needing to process and safeguard 80 percent of the new data.



Data Cables


For these reasons, you might need to become more familiar with different types of cabling. There is Category 5 (Cat5) cable but it is only capable of transmitting 1000 megabits data rate per second on an Ethernet network. Transfer of data demands are increasing due to new and more sophisticated applications. That is why many companies prefer to work with Category 6 (Cat6) cables. Cat6 has a maximum data transfer of 10,000 megabits per second. Cat6 is also backward compatible which means your Cat5 connectors will plug i and work (at the lower speeds).



Future Proofing


Cat6 infrastructure guarantees that your system will be relevant well into the future. This allows users to easily cope with any modifications, new features or technological developments. The Cat5 standard has been used for a long time. However, your enterprise needs adequate bandwidth to handle these continuing and future changes. It is not merely a possibility or “let's say” situation. It is to be anticipated as the online experience continues to progress.


Demand for Cat6 escalates as the world-wide web is now offering premium video streams, online applications, highly-responsive and media-heavy portals.  If you decide to upgrade to a more reliable network, consider Cat6 cables. It is fast becoming the new standard in this industry.



Downsides


Cat 6 is more costly compared to Cat5e cables. On average, we are finding that projects cost about 20-25% more. This is because you are not guaranteed full speed unless all the components operate at gigabit speed. So, you need Cat6 cable, connectors, patch panels and Gigabit switches too. If one part is not rated as gigabit, the network will run at Cat5e speeds. Call or contact us to help you make this decision.


Nevertheless, experts say Cat6 will sooner or later surpass Category 5e.  And the initial upfront costs will pay future productivity gains for many, many years to come.

 
Office Cabling Network Cabling

Residential Network Cabling Solutions

17 Jan 2011

 Office Cabling, Network CablingHome 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. 

Read More