Whether you’re looking for an updated structured cabling solution, or a completely new fiber optic network – Voicetel has the experience, the certifications, and the work ethic required to bring the highest quality fiber optic network to your company.

As we all know technology does not stand still. Manufacturers of data and VoIP network servers and switches are trying to make their hardware deliver faster transmission speeds with almost every upgrade of their product. So, choosing a good cabling infrastructure is very important. Your cabling and network hardware is the life-blood of your company. The cabling you choose dictates how fast your network can be. You can buy the newest fastest servers and switches but if your cable is only rated for 100Mb, then that is how fast your network will be.

A low voltage structured cabling system is one of the most crucial foundations of your network for voice and data in a building or campus. It is the organized collection of copper or fiber wiring and other components in walls, ceilings, conduit, and elsewhere that connect all your IT hardware of computers, telephones, security cameras, copiers, entry access points, and more to your networks for phone and data. This infrastructure collection is unique for each building installation and includes patch panels, trunks, and a variety of other components besides low voltage data cabling. It is what makes telecommunication solutions possible. This system can be likened to the central nervous system in the human body where the spinal cord, nerve pathways and end points are the conduits for signals between the body and brain. When designed well, low voltage network cabling provides flexibility, optimizes uptime, is easily scalable for future increased usage needs and is a good return on investment (ROI). It also can reduce expenses by limiting down time and associated loss of productivity. A properly designed and installed system also looks cleaner and makes it easier to implement changes to the network. Who hasn’t witnessed messy cabling that is difficult to figure out what is going where?

How Does Structured Cabling Work?

Structured Cabling System

A structured cabling system is an assembly of different components that, when combined efficiently, provide the optimum infrastructure for a wide range of business communication uses. Structured cabling companies make up this assemblage of 6 subsystems, each with their specific function and their own subsystems and components. The 6 structured cabling subsystems include: Horizontal Cabling, Vertical Cabling, Entrance Facility Structured Cabling, Consolidation Point Structured Cabling, Telecommunications Enclosure and Work Area Components.

What is fiber optic cabling?

Fiber optics uses light to transmit data in a faster and higher capacity than its copper counterpart.  Fiber optic cable is made up of two separate layers of glass.  The core sends the light signal, and the cladding, which is the layer of glass that surrounds the core. Fiber optic cables and technology has very low transmission losses in comparison to copper cable.  This creates a much more stable and reliable connection for all types of communication and data transmissions.  Fiber optic cable is immune to cross-talk and electromagnetic interference. Fiber optic cables are typically rated at 10Gbps, 40Gbps, and 100Gbps.

The Main Differences Between Cat5e, Cat6 and Cat6A Cabling

These copper cables all utilize 4-twisted pairs except for the fiber optic cable. All major cable manufactures are required to make their cable to minimal standard compliances for each grade.

The general difference between these cables is in the transmission performance, and the available bandwidth from 100 MHz for category 5e to 200 MHz for category 6. This includes better insertion loss, near end crosstalk (NEXT), return loss, and equal level far end crosstalk (ELFEXT).

These improvements provide a higher signal-to-noise ratio, allowing higher reliability for current applications and higher data rates for future applications. Bandwidth or throughput precedes data rates just as highways come before traffic. Doubling the bandwidth is like adding twice the number of lanes on a highway.

Category 5e Cabling

By reducing noise and signal interference, Cat5e cabling is capable of increasing rated transfer speeds to 350 Mbit/s over 100 meters. The new standard also required all cables to include four twisted pairs (all eight contacts). An optimized encoding scheme allows up to 50-meter lengths of Category 5e cable to perform at, or near, Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T) speeds.

Category 6 Cabling

This cable is highly recommended for PoE and AV applications. The mainstream adoption of Gigabit Ethernet (1000BASE-T) required new industry-standard cables capable of transmitting at a higher frequency of 250 MHz’s Cat6 cabling uses 23 AWG conductors, , and more pair twists per inch to reduce signal noise and interference. The tighter specifications guarantee that 100-meter runs of Category 6 are capable of 1000 Mbit/s transfer speeds.

Category 6A Category

6A, an augmented specification designed to double transmission frequency to 500 MHz’s Cat6A cabling supports full 10-Gigabit Ethernet speeds can be reached without sacrificing the max cable length of 100 meters. This is true for STP (shielded twisted pair) cables as well to reduce alien crosstalk.

Technology is moving at a fast pace. Cabling infrastructure must match your company needs. Choosing the best solution for your business in advance saves time and money. Infrastructure performs rather well for an average of ten (10) years and usually, modest cabling supports up to three (3) generations of active electronic devices.

But, before you select your cable type, you’ll need to take into consideration if your company owns or leases the building. If you own, you’ll want to figure out your primary usage and technology speed requirements. If you’re leasing, you’ll want to determine how long you’re planning to stay or what’s suffice for your company’s signature offerings.

The Voicetel team is experienced in planning and installing structured cabling for all applications. We install a variety of network cabling to keep your business running smoothly.