Who is Comm-store
April 29, 2010 15:04PM
Comm-store is a one stop shop for all your networking requirements.We specialize in the supply of networking products including patch panels,rj45 patch leads, server racks, data cabinets, switches and hubs, fibre optic patch leads, and everything else associated with network cabling.Everything for your home or office network is available here. But best of all, you can have it all next day, free of charge.
Do I need solid or stranded cable?
April 28, 2010 22:04PM
Twisted pair cables like Cat5e and Cat6, generally come in two main varieties, solid and stranded. Solid cables support longer length runs and work best in fixed wiring configurations,such as office buildings. Stranded cables,or patch, as it is often referred as, on the other hand, is more pliable and better suited for shorter-distance, movable cabling, such as patch cabling.
cat5e vs cat6 cabling
April 28, 2010 22:04PM
Cat5e vs Cat6
Category 5e and Category 6 are two kinds of cabling that are used to connect network elements together. These are the conduits upon which data travels from one location to another. Bad cabling can often result to poor network performance and inferior cables can also become the bottleneck of your entire network.
Cat6 cables operate at a much higher frequency of 200Mhz minimum, which is double to what Cat5e cables are rated for. In short, this means that Cat6 cable can allow faster data transfer speeds, of course, given that all the hardware in your network also operates at that given speed. Improved performance obviously comes with an additional price. Cat6 cables are more expensive compared to Cat5e cables, and that is why Cat5e cables are still used predominantly in most networks.
Cat6 cabling does not have any significant advantage today, the need for better and faster networks is inevitable and it is only a matter of time before Cat5e cables become too slow for most applications. Eventually, Cat5e installs are likely to become congested causing slow transfer.
The best use of Cat6 cables at present, is to future proof your equipment so that once you upgrade, you would no longer need to replace your cables to achieve the full benefit. Future proofing is especially important in scenarios where the cables become very difficult to reach, after installation like in-wall cabling for example.
Summary:
1. Category 6 cables is the successor to Category 5e
2. Cat6 operates at 200MHz minimum while Cat5e only operates at 100MHz minimum
3. At present, there is actually no significant performance that can be achieved by using Cat6 cables instead of Cat5e
4. Cat6 cables are backwards compatible with Cat5e cables
5. Cat6 is the best option for future proofing your network, especially with cables that are difficult to replace