How to choose the best cabling infrastructure for your business?

by Josh Biggs in Tech on 4th August 2020

In this digital era, choosing the best cabling infrastructure is vital for faster transmissions, better communication and the overall productivity of your business. However, how do you go about selecting the right cabling infrastructure that matches your needs? With different types of cabling like Cat5e, Cat 6 cable and Cat7 to consider for your network, how do you know which is the right one for your business?

To make your task simple, here are a few tips that will help you choose the best cable infrastructure for your business.

Own or lease your office

The type of cabling infrastructure you choose is dependent on whether you have ownership of your office building or it’s on lease.

If you own your building and plan not to move into a new facility for the next 5 to 10 years, Cat 6 cable is the best-suited option for its long-term productive speed. On the other hand, Cat5e cable is appropriate for speeds and networks that are temporary in nature.

Size of your office

If you own a small business with limited devices and communications, then Cat5e cable may be all that you need. However, if you were looking to move to your own bigger space or upgrade your servers and hardware, then choosing Cat 6 cable would be the right choice. 

Type of application

What application is your office cable infrastructure meant to support? The type of cabling infrastructure can have an impact on the functioning of your application.

If you have a training facility or conference room that requires fast internet speed and applications like a VoIP phone system, WIFI, Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Audio/Video (AV) applications, it is recommended to install cat 6 cables that can give performance speeds of up to 250MHz.

Electromagnetic interference (EMI)

Do you own a facility where the environment in which the network cable is installed has a large amount of EMI? 

Shielded Cat 6 cables have a twisted cable design to handle gigabit Ethernet and reject noise. This also ensures that the data within the cable is protected from EMI, resulting in higher speeds and better data transmission.

Benefits of using a Cat 6 cable

  • Greater bandwidth that allows for higher data transfer rates.
  • Ideal for a network between devices.
  • More effective immunity from external noise.
  • Lesser re-transmissions of damaged or corrupted data packets.
  • Allows higher data rates in signal transmission.
  • Reduce the impact of crosstalk by its twisted cable design and improved shielding. 
  • Offers a higher signal-to-noise ratio.
  • Backward compatible with Cat 5/5e and Cat 3 cables.
  • Higher reliability.

Once the cables are installed in your office, it is difficult to replace them, due to their inaccessibility and the complexity involved in pulling the cables out without damaging the walls or floor. For the same reason, it is recommended to install the best cabling system available in the first place. 

Whether you need to install network cabling for your new business or you want to re-cable an existing workplace, these tips will help you choose the best type of network cable available.

Categories: Tech

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