Our project leaders, who each have 10-20 years of experience as cabling installers, constantly receive requests to recommend the appropriate cabling for organisations aiming to achieve optimal performance from their WiFi systems.
To make the right cable choice, it’s important to realise how much WiFi technology has progressed in the last decade. The latest and current standard in WiFi technology is WiFi6e (IEEE standard 802.11ax), which supersedes WiFi5 (802.11ac). This new technology achieves a transformative increase in throughput, a crucial factor since nobody wants to connect to a WiFi system that is slower than the 5G signal they would receive outside the building.
In the past, a Wireless Access Point (WAP) throughput could not surpass the capacity of CAT5e or CAT6 cabling (1Gbps). However, with the emergence of WiFi6e APs with a throughput of up to 9.6 Gbps across multiple channels, traditional 1Gbps CAT6 cabling causes a bottleneck, especially considering that most hardware manufacturers now offer multi-gig switches with switchports that support 2.5, 5 or even 10 Gbps, all of which transmit and receive more data packets than traditional CAT6 cable can handle, leading to latency between the switch and the WAP. To avoid this, we recommend CAT6A (10Gbps) cabling for WiFi Access Points.
Electromagnetic interference on the cable can also cause a slowdown along the cables that link switch ports to WAPs. To ensure that the user experience is optimal, the cabling installer needs to consider this. Traditional shielded (FTP) cables require costly and often unreliable grounding, which can have negative implications. However, the clever boffins at Panduit have developed the ingenious hybrid VariMatrix cable that offers all the benefits of a shielded cable without the problems associated with traditional shielding.
As approved Panduit installers, we can guarantee the proper installation of this unique cable. To prepare for the future with WiFi7, which offers even faster throughput, it is essential to use 2 x CAT6A cables for each access point. As leaders in WiFi infrastructure, we aim to inform and advise on emerging technologies to ensure your network runs smoothly. Join us to stay ahead of the curve.