Structured cabling

Structured cabling

Cables come in a number of different categories called "CAT" numbers.

The most recently ratified standard for voice and data cable is the CAT 5e (where e stands for enhanced).

CAT 5e is capable of handling data transmission rates of up to 200Mbps and the commercial building standard has been appended to EIA/TIA 568A-5.

Newer standards including CAT6 (capable of transmitting data at 600 Mbps, for which the standard will be EIA/TIA 568B) and CAT 7 (capable of running at 1000Mbps, yet to be officially standardised) are being proposed but have not yet been officially ratified.

DP data cabling recommends that you consider network cabling infrastructure of at least the CAT5e standard, to ensure your computer network continues to meet your needs well into the future.

Cable Types

There are three main types of cable used in structured cabling installations: UTP, ScTP and fibre optic.

Most computer networks are cabled using UTP or 'unshielded twisted pair' as it is a versatile product capable of supporting most system and network protocols.

ScTP or 'screened twisted pair is used in place of UTP in environments where there is high ambient noise or electro-magnetic interference, for example hospitals and military bases or government type secure installations

Fibre optic cable is used for high speed, high bandwidth applications. Fibre cable is available in two formats, singlemode, widely used in telephony and multimode suitable for network communications. Multimode fibre is capable of handling large bandwidth with high speed data transmission and is compact and easy to install.

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