15 Nov Which is the most desired category?
With the future in mind
If you want to prepare the installation of structured wiring in business premises for the future, we suggest that you always choose components of category 6A or higher when installing.
There are many advantages of such a connection, but above all we avoid possible additional costs and headaches in the future due to the possible need to change cables and equipment, as we lay a very good foundation for future connection speeds.
Transmission speeds are doubling every 2 years or so and active equipment is following this trend, but it’s fairly easier to physically replace it with a newer, faster version than passive equipment. Cables of structured wiring are laid or pulled through shelves, pipes and ducts, which makes it difficult to replace them with better quality cables of higher categories. Other components, such as modules and dividers, in the case of upgrading to a higher category, require completion and measurements with an instrument.
Why category 6A?
Even now, we use large amounts of data transmission, and our Internet and mobile phone providers are also adapting to this, and every few years they update their packages with additional data or higher transmission speeds.
If a few years ago the size of a picture taken with a camera was 500 kB to 1 MB, nowadays, with the development of cameras on mobile phones, this picture size is much larger, up to 10 MB and more. Video calls have become everyday, and good quality video and audio transmission is a must.
For a higher transfer quality, a large amount of transferred data is required in as short a period of time as possible. Data speeds multiply rapidly when there are a few dozen similar users in a business space, transferring data by watching video content, web pages, listening to music, video calling, sending e-mail and using other applications.
If we add video surveillance and PoE applications (Power over Ethernet – power supply via structured wiring) to the sum of the amount of data transferred by users, we quickly realize that components of lower categories may no longer be suitable or do not satisfy all user requirements.
The future brings the need for even higher speeds and capacities of active equipment, and thus even greater needs for good, quality infrastructure or passive equipment. Presumably, the highest requirements will be set by the PoE standard. It is a widespread standard, it is used by video surveillance systems and WIFI access points, and the power supply of LED lights via structured wiring is already present. The number of devices that can be powered using PoE is increasing (cameras, IP phones, access control, LCD TV, monitors…) and it is only a matter of time when most of the listed devices will require their own PoE Rj45 connector.
No Comments