No longer do the traditional cabling setups of the past meet the bandwidth requirements of the average business. With older cabling setups in place businesses are suffering, productivity is decreasing, and data management teams are becoming increasingly frustrated. That’s because the bandwidth-heavy data that most businesses process on a daily basis these days requires flexible, scalable, and, most of all, capable data cabling solutions.
If your business is still running on an old data cabling setup, it’s like trying to drink a milkshake through a coffee-stirring straw. Your data is the milkshake and your current cabling setup is the straw. Sucking on that straw, you are eventually going to get something, but it’s going to take a while and you’re not going to get enough. Now, replace that coffee-stirring straw with a thicker, wider straw that was created with the milkshake in mind (new data cabling) and you’re going to have much more success!
Planning, installing, and maintaining network communications systems is a complex and time-consuming process, though. It’s not something for the average DIY’er to tackle, it’s a job that requires a reputable data cabling solutions installation team. Here at Tekulus, our data cabling solutions team has thirty years of expertise behind them. They have the experience required to design, build, and install a system that is custom catered to your business needs, and one that can accommodate future expansion.
Cable Guide
When building a custom cabling solution for your data needs, there are many different types of cable that may come into play.
- Voice Cables – Voice cables are used to integrate your telephony applications into your corporate LAN infrastructure.
- Data Cables – Data cables are used to transmit data from a transmitter to a receiver, for example, a cat 5 cable may be used to transmit data from your modem to your computer. Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a are examples of data cables.
- Cat3 Cables – Cat3 cables are used today in two-line phone configurations, but little else because they are unable to handle large amounts of data. In the early 1990s, however, they were used for ethernet LAN networking. The cat3 cable is capable of handling data speeds of up to 10Mbps with a maximum frequency of 16MHz. This cable is generally limited to 10BASE-T ethernet usage but is capable of supporting 100BASE-T.
- Cat5 Cables – Cat5 cables were introduced in the early 2000s and took over as the LAN cables of choice. Although the cat5 is still used in the average home today, it is outdated technology and has largely been discarded in favor of the 5e cable. The cat5 cable is capable of handling data speeds of up to 100Mbps with a maximum frequency of 100MHz and can be reliably used for lengths of 100 meters. These cables use either 10BASE-T or 100BASE-T data transmission standard.
- Cat5e Cables – Cat5e cables are similar to cat5 cables, however, the internal upgrading of the wire means that there is less crosstalk and increased transmission speed. This is the ethernet cable found in the average home and office. The cat5e cable is capable of handling data speeds of up to 1Gbps with a maximum frequency of 100MHz and can be reliably used for lengths of 100 meters. These cables are capable of 1000BASE-T data transmission speeds.
- Cat6 Cables – Cat6 cables are better-insulated cables than the cat5e cables allowing for faster data transmission and they are capable of supporting higher frequencies. The cat6 cable is capable of handling data speeds of up to 10Gbps with a maximum frequency of 250MHz and can be reliably used for lengths of 55 meters. These cables are capable of 10GBASE-T data transmission speeds.
- Cat6a Cables – Cat6a cables are the ethernet cable of choice for offices looking to build a cabling system that is “future-proof”. Capable of operating at a much higher frequency than the cat6 cable, the cat6a also provides much smoother and consistent data transmission speeds. The cat6a cable is capable of handling data speeds of up to 10Gbps with a maximum frequency of 750MHz. These cables are capable of 10GBASE-T data transmission speeds.
- Cat7 Cables – Cat7 cables are also referred to as “Class F cables” and have even better crosstalk noise reduction than the cat6a cables. The cat7 cable is capable of handling data speeds of up to 10Gbps with a maximum frequency of 600MHz and can be reliably used for lengths of 100 meters. These cables are capable of 10GBASE-T data transmission speeds.
Fiber Optics
Fiber optics are another important component of the structured data cabling solution. There are three common types of fiber optic cable.
- The Single-Mode Fiber Optic Cable – A single-mode fiber optic cable uses a single strand of glass fiber between 8.5-10 microns in diameter to carry light waves and will propagate 1310 or 1550 nm. Although this cable covers more distance than the multimode cable and has a higher bandwidth, it’s limited to a narrow spectral width light source.
- The Multimode Fiber Optic Cable – A multimode fiber optic cable uses multiple modes to transmit light waves and is between 50-100 microns in diameter. This cable will propagate 850 or 1300 nm and can reach up to 100Gbps Ethernet.
- The Multimode Graded Index Fiber Optic Cable – A multimode graded-index fiber optic cable uses multiple modes to transmit light waves and uses a special fiber which causes the refractive index towards the outside of the fiber to be lower than that on the inside. These cables are between 50, 62.5 and 100 microns in diameter and will propagate 800 – 1600 nm.
Cabling Speeds
Cat3 | Cat5 | Cat5e | Cat6 | Cat6a | Cat7 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Max. Data Rate | 10Mbps | 100Mbps | 1000Mbps | 10Gbps | 10Gbps | 10Gps |
Max Frequency | 16Mhz | 100Mhz | 350Mhz | 250Mhz | 750Mhz | 600Mhz |
Typical Distance | 100m | 100m | 100m | 100m | 100m | 100m |
The average company that depends on digital data transmission should be achieving a maximum data rate of at least 10Gbps at a maximum frequency of 750Mhz, but the prepared business utilizes the cat7 cable which is soon to be the standard in ethernet cables.
10G Cabling
Our team here at Tekulus also offer 10G cabling services. 10G (or 10Gb ethernet capable) cabling is utilized to connect the servers and storage in your data center to switches so that data can be moved between storage, servers, and network drives at efficient speeds. This decreases the amount of downtime as employees transfer data and improves your overall data flow.
Data Cabling Testing and Certification and Speed Certifications
When you choose Tekulus for your data cabling needs, you can be confident in the service you receive. We provide our customers with data cabling testing and certification and speed certifications to ensure that your cabling meets the necessary quality and safety standards and that your new data cabling is performing up to the necessary standard.