Network Facts

Structured Cabling requires more than pulling cables. All levels of installation require experts who are trained and certified to complete all the necessary steps. Our technicians are certified by ICC (International Cable Connectors), recognized in our industry as one of the leaders in network cable supplies and training.

Enhance, Expand, or Refurbish

Business can experience a positive impact simply by enhancing, expanding, or refurbishing existing cabling structures. Productivity, effectiveness, and even safety can be increased, improving morale in the process.

Category 5, 5e, and 6 are four pair twisted copper wire cables that transmit data and voice information at high speed and can be installed in lengths not to exceed 300 feet. Category 6 technology, the latest type of these copper cables, is rapidly growing in the telecommunications industry’s commercial market. CAT 6 has been under development since late 1997. Originally, the wiring was improved from the 100 MHz capability of CAT 5 to the enhanced version of 350 MHz of CAT 5e, and then later finally to 350 MHz of CAT 6, with better physical makeup allowing for better signal to noise ratio and transfer of data. CAT 6 provides for other metrics as well, variables that become important at high bandwidth rates. These include crosstalk, or interference between wire pairs, and skew, the difference in timing of signals on the wires.

With today’s evolving needs for higher bandwidth and faster networks, most companies are pushing their current technology to its limit just by running applications for their day to day activities. Transferring files with complicated structures or pictures, streamline digital video or audio conferencing, and installing several applications through the network simultaneously causes a strain on a system that CAT 5 or CAT 5e isn’t able to handle. Many network administrators have CAT 5 or CAT 5e cabling infrastructures in their current existing networks and need to consider a higher performance solution.

The better physical makeup of CAT 6 offers a minimal loss of data transfer, which translates to faster and reliable networks for current applications in the market place today. In today’s office environment, VoIP, Video Conferencing, and streaming digital videos are common place, and CAT 6 can do all of this without slowing you down or interfering with productivity and effectiveness.

Fiber Optics are long, thin strands of optically pure glass as thin as a human hair that carry digital information. They are arranged in bundles called optical cables and are used to transmit light signals over long distances.

Optical Fibers come in two types:

• Single-mode fibers
• Multi-mode fibers

Single-mode fibers have small cores (about 3.5 x 10-4 inches or 9 microns in diameter) and transmit infrared laser light (wavelength = 1,300 to 1,550 nanometers). Single-mode fiber gives a higher transmission rate and up to 50 times more distance than multimode.

Multi-mode fibers have larger cores (about 2.5 x 10-3 inches or 62.5 microns in diameter) and transmit infrared light (wavelength = 850 to 1,300 nm) from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Multi-mode fiber can be ran in lengths of up to 3000 feet.

Revolutionizing traits of fiber-optic systems compared to conventional metal wire (copper wire):

Thinner – Optical fibers can be drawn to smaller diameters than copper wire.

Higher carrying capacity – Because optical fibers are thinner than copper wires, more fibers can be bundled into a given-diameter cable than copper wires. This allows more data to go over the same cable than with copper wires.

Less signal degradation – The loss of signal in optical fiber is less than in copper wire.

Light signals offer no interference – Unlike electrical signals in copper wires, light signals from one fiber do not interfere with those of other fibers in the same cable.

Low power – Because signals in optical fibers degrade less, lower-power transmitters can be used instead of the high-voltage electrical transmitters needed for copper wires.

Digital signals – Optical fibers are ideally suited for carrying digital information, which is especially useful in computer networks.

Non-flammable – Because no electricity is passed through optical fibers, there is no fire hazard.

Lightweight – An optical cable weighs less than a comparable copper wire cable. Fiber-optic cables take up less space in the ground.