Type of cable for wireless install

[techie211]

Hey ppl, we are hiring Meru for our district wireless. It's only 2 buildings(32 APs + 24 APs). We are running the data cables ourselves. Just a few questions:

 

1: which type of cable should I go with? Cat 5e, Cat6 etc.

2: did you have in house ppl run your cables or an outside vendor?

3: any pointers from the ones who ran their own cables?

 

thanks,

 

-J

[Michael]

CAT5e is cheaper and will run at the full 1000Mbps anyway. CAT6 is a lot more expensive and thicker too, so harder to install.

 

For big jobs, it's better to get someone in to install it, test it and make sure it's installed correctly to the latest regulations. You also need to do a full site survey for potential walls that need drilling and of course asbestos risks too.

[techie211]

thanks for your reply. What type of Cat 6 cabling would I need? sheilded or unshielded, plenum-rated cables?

[Michael]

These are the kind of questions a professional cable installer would know but you can look online for a lot of answers.

[shadowx]

Depending on the layout cat5 would do the trick, the only issue will be the cable length but realistically even 100mb/s cable would supply an AP sufficiently.

 

It also depends what sort of trunking and loft space you can run the cable through, we run all our own here and since i've been here (3 years) we have run loads of cables, mostly for wireless APs. Just make sure you measure out your runs properly, we dont usually cut the end of the cable, we just bunch up 6 or 8 or however many cables, wrap em well in insulation tape at the cut end so it can push through trunking as one unit and wrap a bit of tape around the cables every couple of meters, pull the cable from the boxes through the trunking then once we have the run complete pull a few meters spare and chop the box end.

 

It also helps if you keep a count of how many meters roughly you pull. The boxes have a label for writing down what you pull so you know if you have enough for your next run or not. Usual stuff, avoid power cables and avoid fluorescent lighting like the plague. If you have to go near power cables get shielded, otherwise standard twisted pair would do the trick. Make sure you have a reliable cable tester, a mask might come in handy, trunking gets pretty dusty! And decent tools make it a lot easier and more pleasant than fighting with a drill or balancing on a dodgy ladder

[techie211]

some good info. So Plenum would probably be overkill and harder to run?

[shadowx]

Googling the term I can only find info saying that Plenum cable is fire resistant?

 

If that's the case then it's down to the school to decide really. Unless I'm reading something totally different it wont give you any network advantages.

 

How much cable running have you done in the past? I dont want to spew out loads of stuff if you already know it but if you've never done it before then I can talk you through the things we do when it comes to cabling. Like I said, I've only been in the job 3-4 years so Im not an expert and the only qualification I have is a CCNA 1 from college which is expired anyway so no doubt there are other more knowledgeable people on the forums!

[SYNACK]

Use Cat6, it really is not that much more expencive and it it much more robust, it will probably last longer and be much better when using stuff like PoE ang Gig at the same time. It will also generally give you a better quality 1GB link as even though 1GB may run over cat5e when dealing with longer runs you can get more errors etc that slow it down despite it still showing as 1GB.

 

For the 5-10% premium get the better stuff that will do the job better and for longer.

[shadowx]

Fair point, if it doesnt affect the pricing much then go cat6 but otherwise cat5e would work fine, it's still 1gb prodivded, like synack says, the cabling isnt overly long or badly run (IE crossing power cabling all the time). Personally I would run cat5e because we have loads of it laying around But then if I were buying cable without worrying about price then I would just get the best I could so Cat6. Swings and roundabouts.

[Oaktech]

I would use cat6 in anything other than the kindest of circumstances (no EM sources, short runs etc) shielded if you have to run through EM/ES noisy areas.

[Duke5A]

I manage a wireless network comprised of about 150 access points across six sites. We had the cabling done by a company, but I can tell you what it all entails. All the cabling is ran through the plenum like any standard network drop would be routed (wire ladders on long runs, through conduit when going through walls, etc). The lines are kept as far away as possible from light ballasts, have at least 20ft service loops before termination, and are terminated with a box and rj45 plug on the ends. Access points are jacked in with 5th patch cords. All the cable is plenum rated Cat6. At least here, the cabling needs to be plenum rated to pass fire code. Don't forget to use firestop in conduits as well. And get an expensive label maker to label the cables on both ends. This will make your life a lot easier in the long run.

[Alexbrown0120]

Hey ppl, we are hiring Meru for our district wireless. It's only 2 buildings(32 APs + 24 APs). We are running the data cables ourselves. Just a few questions:

 

1: which type of cable should I go with? Cat 5e, Cat6 etc.

2: did you have in house ppl run your cables or an outside vendor?

3: any pointers from the ones who ran their own cables?

 

thanks,

 

-J

 

CAT5e can be less expensive and will manage for the total 1000Mbps regardless. CAT6 can be more pricey in addition to thicker as well, thus trickier to set up.

With regard to big work, it truly is easier to obtain somebody straight into do the installation, check it out in addition to ensure that it truly is set up the right way to the most current regulations. You must also do a total website customer survey pertaining to possible walls that want drilling and naturally asbestos pitfalls as well.

Checkout Telesystemscorp for more information regarding Cat5e Wiring Services and many more.

[twin--turbo]

Watch out for anyone trying to use CCA cable , it's cheap , does not meat standards and is properly S.....T!

 

Rob

[plexer]

I'm sure they've sorted it now as it was last year.

 

Ben