Get the Best Network Cabling for Your Business

If you have bad network cabling for your business, you open yourself up to a whole slew of annoying problems like a slow network, unreliable connections and potentially significant downtime. Therefore, it’s important to set yourself up for success when developing your company’s network by getting the best network cabling you can and hiring professionals to install any high voltage wiring in Alexandria, VA.

Here’s some important information about why network cabling matters so much and what you can do to make sure you’re setting up a smoothly operating network:

• Categories of cabling: When you first begin to research your network cabling options, you’ll notice that there are several primary categories of ethernet cabling. They’re labeled with numbers and letters going up to 6a. Generally, the higher you go, the better the speed. Categories 6 and 6a will give you the best results, though 5e is still used in some particular areas, especially if the cable is only traveling a short distance. Lower category cabling is only used when there are significant budgetary restraints or if data transfer needs are particularly low.

Speeds: One of your primary goals with network cabling should be to do what you can to keep your speeds consistently high. Make sure the cabling matches up with the hardware you’re using so you’re giving yourself the best ability to benefit from consistently high speeds. It should also be fairly easy to upgrade your system so you can keep it running at speeds that allow your business to remain as competitive and as efficient as possible.

• Reliability: Just as important as speed is reliability. The last thing you want is to have to deal with major slowdowns or potential downtime that could destroy productivity in your workplace. Cabling technology has seen some significant enhancements over the past couple decades. We’ve now reached the point where fiber technologies have created the capability for 1,000 Mbps networks. Even if you’re not achieving that blistering level of speed, there are still plenty of opportunities to give yourself a boost. Today’s cabling is faster and more durable than ever before, though there are still some types that are more affected than others by noise caused by temperature changes, electromagnetic interference and other issues. So not only do you need to get cables that are resistant to these types of interference, but you also need to lay them out in a way that protects them as much as possible from various forms of signal interference.
• Future proofing: Whenever you’re working in your business’s network, it’s a good idea to keep potential future technological developments in mind. This can be difficult, but IT professionals can advise you about current trends in world of IT and advise you on any future developments that may occur and strategies you can employ to help you future proof your network.

These are just a few tips you should be sure to keep in mind when selecting network cabling for your business. To get more information from commercial electrical contractors in Alexandria, VA, reach out to Walsh Electric and we’ll be happy to answer your questions.