Network cabling has and will continue to evolve to accommodate today’s and tomorrow’s applications with high bandwidth. The word CAT is a short form for the category. The number after the CAT defines the specification version supported by the cable and factors such as the signal rate, Ethernet standard, and transmission speed.
Various computer networking standards exist cat 5e, cat6 cable, cat 6a, and higher grades of up to cat 8. Cat 5 and 3 are no longer recognized as standard networking since they are old-fashioned. The network hardware and cabling are crucial in choosing a reliable cabling infrastructure.
This article guides you on which CAT cable is best for your office.
Does Your Office Planning Use Any Poe Gadgets?
If you plan to install PoE (power over Ethernet) gadgets such as cameras, VoIP phone systems, door access, or any other devices, then you should use, at the minimum, a cat6 cable. A cat6 cable can effectively handle the power needed for the PoE gadgets compared to cat5e cabling.
What Does Cat6 or 6a Offer When Compared to Cat 5e?
Cat6 cables provide some advantages such as immunity from external noise and improved transmission performance and thus will have fewer errors compared to 5e. It also means that there will be fewer corrupted or lost data packet transmissions, which makes cat6 more reliable.
It is very costly and hard to replace cables under floors, inside walls, or in other areas that are difficult to access. Cabling is expected to last approximately ten years and support around four or five generations of devices. If the future equipment requires better cabling, it will be difficult to pull out cat 5e later to install cat 6.
Do You Need Shielded or Unshielded Cable?
Shielding is necessary when transmitting data is at risk of magnetic energy interference or noise. If the office is located in a high-interference environment, a shielded cable such as cat 6a is recommended.
Cables come with codes like U/UTP, which means that the wires are not shielded, while a cable with an ‘F’ means that the cable has a foil shield and an ‘S’ means that there is a weave of tin wire or thin copper wire. Some cables have multiple shielding where the cables are shielded, and the internal wires have no foil. Cables with an ‘F’ followed by ‘TP’ means that the cable has a layer of foil over it, but the twisted pairs ‘TP’ of wires are unshielded.
If your office has manufacturing equipment, it would be necessary for the cables to be of the best industry grade. If you own a freezer to store products at freezing temperatures, the type of cable used should have a sheath that is rated for that kind of environment.
Do you Own the Office, or is it on Lease/Rent?
If you own the office premises or plan to stay on those premises for a long time, then a cat6 cable is recommended. If the office premises are on a lease, then it’s essential to consider how long you plan to stay there and whether you need a higher speed or shorter than what cat5e cabling can offer.
How Much Speed Do You Need Your Network to have?
Cat 6 cables offer much higher speed than cat5e. Cat5e provides up to 1Gbps, while cat6 and 6a offer a speed of up to 10Gbps. If your network plans on transmitting lots of data at higher rates, then it would be wise to go for a cat6 at minimum.
Read more: Advantages of Renting Indoor Plants for Your Office
Summary
The internet is one of the fundamental things you should consider, whether for business or home office, where you and your employees can share information, resources, and data with the help of the internet, so choosing one that suits your office needs should be your priority.
