Choosing the right Cable for Network Infrastructure– Will they Make Network faster?

While creating a network infrastructure, awareness about the pros and cons of different cable types are important. There are several networking cables like fibre optics or twisted pair cables are available. Network cabling installed incorrectly can cause various problems in the networking devices. Installing quality network cabling in an organization involves the installation of connectors, connecting hardware and cables using UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair), STP (Shielded Twisted Pair), F/UTP (Foiled Unshielded Twisted Pair), Fibre Optics (multimode or singlemode). 

Use high quality cable wiring:

Cabling systems are divided into different categories based on the data rates it can transmit. The cable specifications also include the type of material, the type of connectors, number of times each pair is twisted per meter, and junction blocks to be used in order to conform to a category. Based on the ISO international standard the category refers to the cable and class refers to the connector. 

 Standard categories of cables

• CAT 3 with 16 Mbps data rate (no longer used, mainly used in telephone cables).

• CAT 4 with 20 Mbps data rate (was only a standard and never widely installed).

• CAT 5 with 100 MHz bandwidth (Replaced by CAT 5E, common in most current LANs).

• CAT 5E with 100 MHz bandwidth (Enhanced Cat5, It offers better near-end cross talk than CAT5).

• CAT 6 up to 250 MHz bandwidth (provides more specifications for crosstalk and system noise).

• CAT 6E up to 500 MHz bandwidth: Published in Feb 2008. It supports for 10 Gigabit Ethernet. It can be shielded (STP, ScTP, S/FTP) or unshielded (UTP).

• CAT 7 up to 600MHz bandwidth. (Fully shielded cable).

It’s found that most of the new installations are using shielded twisted pair cables. Shielded cables can reduce the effect of closely placed power relays, electric gadgets and electric cables that run in parallel close to the installed cables.

  In traditional cabling the two most widely installed categories are CAT 3 for Voice and CAT 5E. In the newer installations the most common way is to use CAT 5E for voice and one high speed cable to support 10GBASE-T for long term use. CAT 3 is not used in modern cablings because it’s found that it can cause transmission errors if pushed to faster speeds. Good quality CAT 5 cabling can be used for gigabit networks. But it’s recommended to use CAT 5E or CAT 6 cabling for gigabit connectivity which can ensure that the cabling infrastructure is stable when the gigabit upgrade occurs. 

The CAT 6 specification was published in 2002. In terms of near-end cross talk and bandwidth it’s more improved than CAT 5E. According to the information from IEEE in 2004, 70% of new installations were using CAT 6. In 2002 CAT 7 or Class F cables were also published as a fully shielded system. A shielded cable ensures less noise and good performance. 

The best cable that can be selected for the organization depends on the facts like if you are newly installing a network cable or if the existing cable network is expanded. For new installations CAT 5 or better TP cables can be selected with fibre optic cabling for long backbone connections. Fibre optic cable offers best noise immunity, security and excellent speed in transmission. Choosing the best matching cable wiring for your organization’s needs can help to ensure long life of the entire system, boost its reliability and saves money.