Structured Cabling or Wiring lasts the longest among all the elements of technical infrastructure. The rest of the components need renovations and upgrades much sooner while cabling can last 3 to 4 generations of electronic equipment. Now talking about how you choose the right structured cabling infrastructure, well here are some points to keep in mind before making the choice for your optimal cabling infrastructure. It saves you precious time and money when you choose the right cables at the very start of setting up your business infrastructure in a new place. For this, you would have to first have an understanding of different types of cables and their characteristics.
Choosing the Right Type of Cable:
The cables that are often used mainly fall into certain categories – namely Fiber Optic Cables (single mode/ multi-mode), Coaxial Cables, and Twisted Pair Cables (Shielded and Unshielded).
Coaxial Cable
It is the earliest of all but the use of Coaxial Cable is very rare now. One reason is that there are more advanced kinds of cables available, and secondly, the Coaxial Cable was never meant to be for computer networking in the first place but rather television wiring. Although its use for Computer Networking was made possible in the 1980s right around the time when Computer Revolution started, and it was quite widespread even until the 1990s. It has a copper built and is relatively cheaper compared to other cables that are around but for today’s fast-speed data transmission requirements, it is virtually of no use.
Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber Optic Cables are much popular because of the advantages they offer. Instead of an electronic signal, a Fiber Optic cable uses light for data transmission. It is very resistant to electrical interference, and moisture, a fact that makes it a good candidate as the preferred cabling infrastructure choice for long-distance data transfer requirements without much problem. Its use is quite prevalent.
Twisted Pair Cable
The third type is the Twisted Pair Cable and it is the most popular among all kinds of cables due to its extensive and diverse range of features. There are multiple versions of the Twisted Pair Cable. The Cat5 version (Category 5) cable had been very frequently used until sometime back but not anymore, While its other more developed variant Cat5e is still widely used. More recently, the Cat6 has become the standard bearer for its amazing data transmission speed. Cat 7 has also been introduced, but for now, it is too advanced and its necessity isn’t felt as of yet for any kind of business.
So as we can see there are several different kinds of cables available today and they can all serve many different purposes for a business as per its requirements. To determine what your requirements exactly are, you would need to consider some factors such as the ones mentioned herein below:
Place of Installation is Important:
So take into account whether you lease your workplace or you’re the owner of it. This is a crucial factor in determining the right cables for your business because in case you’re not the owner and are leasing a building or premise then you must have an idea of how long you intend to lease the place for. If you intend to shift in a few years then it is best to go for Cat 5e cabling infrastructure. Because once you move to a permanent office you can then update to a higher version.
On the other hand, if you own the place, in this scenario, it is best you opt for Cat6 or Cat 6a as there is little chance you would need to be upgrading to Cat7 anytime soon since Cat7 is not going to be implemented or needed even for any large-scale business at least for any foreseeable near future. Category 6 remains the standard bearer for structured data cabling as it fulfills all the modern enterprise requirements, and gives you the high data speeds you need, along with durability.
Type of Industry:
Now the other important thing for you to do while choosing your best option for a network cable is to consider the kind of business industry you work in. For instance, in a business firm or unit where a lot of hard manufacturing work is done (e.g. automotive industry), for it, you would need wiring that is highly resistant to conditions like water damage or extreme weather (e.g. businesses which need to use freezers), and other kinds of hazardous or harsh conditions. You would need a highly durable and high-quality cable here like a shielded twisted pair Cat6a which is the most durable available.
Security Cabling and Power Over Ethernet:
Another important aspect to consider in Network Cabling Infrastructure is your security system cabling. Usually, Cat5e Cables are used for connecting devices or equipment like voice systems and cameras through the ceilings, floor, and walls in a business premise to enable the supply of power to the phones, security cameras, etc. Cat 5e or Cat 6 Twisted Pair Cables are most advisable for Camera and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) systems in conference rooms as well.
Conclusion:
It is best to choose a Structured Network Cabling infrastructure keeping the future of your business in mind. In addition to that, you must consider the size of the business premise, your budget, the required data speed, and work conditions. All these factors need to be assessed before you decide on installing the perfect cabling infrastructure for your business. The best suggestion in today’s business environment of constantly changing technology and increasing competition would be that you must hire professional Structured Cabling Services since they would give you the right guidance and will perform the installation professionally leaving no room for error because complex wiring once done is hard to replace easily. Make sure you hire a Service with a good amount of experience and reputation as you would not want to take a chance with this most important foundation in regard to your business.
