Office Network Cabling,Cat6 Cable, Network Patch Cable

Determining Your Office Network Cabling Needs

14 Jan 2011

Office Cabling, Network CablingNetwork Patch CableA 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.

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

Computer Network Patch Panel

23 Dec 2009

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