Structured Cabling Installation

A structured-cabling installation requires knowledgeable and clear-thinking technicians to create an organized cabling system that meets national structured cabling standards and allows for easy troubleshooting and scalability. Our team at Mammoth Security knows all about structured cabling, and we take pride in meeting the very highest cabling standards in the industry.

What Is Structured Cabling for Telecommunications?

"Telecommunications" refers to the transmittal of information—such as data, images, video, and audio—over long distances. The term "structured cabling" refers to a standardized method for connecting communication devices throughout a property to external telecommunications service providers.

Structured cabling

While every structured cabling solution is unique to match customer premises and meet required functionalities, your installer should carefully design your cabling project with future use in mind, including wiring infrastructure organized for scalability and compatibility with any connecting hardware you may need in the future.

Point-to-Point vs. Structured Cabling

Point-to-point cabling is traditional cabling. In a point-to-point cabling system, every telecommunications-capable cord connects directly with hardware near a service provider's entry port.

Point-to-point cabling is usually adequate for single-family homes

Most small offices and homes can get by with traditional point-to-point cabling. Large office buildings and campuses, on the other hand, require a cabling infrastructure that can handle dozens of devices—computers, Wi-Fi routers, telephones, fax machines, security systems, and more. Using point-to-point cabling systems in such situations results in network downtime, difficulty adding devices, major headaches when troubleshooting is required, and far too many opportunities for system and human error.

Structured Cabling Infrastructure

Entrance Facility

Entrance facility.

Every building or site receives its telecommunications service from a telecommunications provider at an entrance facility. The entrance facility is the site of the network demarcation point, the point at which the telecommunications company's wiring infrastructure ends and the customer's in-house telecommunications equipment begins.

Backbone Cabling

Backbone cabling infrastructure connects cables from entrance facilities to telecommunications enclosure spaces and equipment rooms.

Backbone cabling in weatherproof tubing to connect buildings

In a structured cabling system, backbone cabling usually crosses the largest distances and carries the most network traffic. It's installed below floors, above ceilings, and within walls to connect rooms and even buildings.

Fiber optic cables are recommended for backbone cabling because they contain strands of glass fibers that are flexible and excellent for performance over long distances.

Fiber optic cabling is also commonly used by telecommunications services for the fast, high-quality connectivity they provide.

Equipment Room

Equipment room connections

Backbone cabling connects the entrance facility to the equipment room, the location where most of the customer's wiring infrastructure is stored and organized. The equipment room contains the main distribution frame (MDF), the hub of a structured cabling solution.

Main Distribution Frame and Patch Panels

The main distribution frame contains wiring racks and patch panel ports where telecommunications cabling for the rest of the building is organized. In-ports and out-ports on patch panels are connected with short-length patch cords to assign particular telecommunications services to each patch panel line.

Campus telecommunications cabling infrastructure: the back of a patch panel

Unlike backbone cabling, patch cables don't need to extend for large distances. They use shorter and more flexible cables containing stranded wires.

Horizontal Cable Infrastructure

From wiring racks connected with patch panels, horizontal cabling infrastructure connects the main distribution frame to work areas. Horizontal cabling infrastructure is most often run through ceilings, floors, or walls.

Patch panel equipment racks

Horizontal cabling installations usually use either coaxial or twisted-pair cables for their superior resistance to interference from electromagnetic radiation. Each horizontal cable connects with an individual wall outlet through a horizontal cross-connect. From there, end-users can plug in devices like computers, printers, and fax machines for reliable telecommunications service.

Benefits of Structured Cabling Systems

Faster Internet

Structured cabling installation from electricity room leading to end-user equipment

Structured cabling relies on wiring infrastructure designed to transmit more data at higher maximum speeds with less interference. Hence, fiber optic cable cords are used for backbone infrastructure, and coaxial or twisted-pair cable cords are used for horizontal cabling.

Structured Cabling Standards

In the US, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the EIA/TIA are responsible for developing and maintaining the equipment standards for products used throughout the entire structured cabling industry--from cabling manufacturers to telecommunications providers to installation experts.

Structured cabling products are designed for an adaptable whole wiring infrastructure

By relying on standardized smaller elements (such as set measurements for patch-panel components, hardware ports, and mechanical terminations), upgrading and repairing a structured-cabling system is simple and convenient.

Scalability

Structured cabling system enables easy additions and adjustments

Principles of structured-cabling design allow for easy scalability as businesses grow. A well-designed structured-cabling system can become increasingly complex over time while remaining comprehensible to installers and technicians. For example, additions and adjustments can be made by connecting standardized new cords to labeled patch-panel equipment using standardized cable patches and standardized jacks.

Easy Troubleshooting and Less Network Downtime

Troubleshooting is faster and easier with a structured cabling system because wires are labeled and logically connected.

Messsy point-to-point cabling, but it should never look this bad.

A technician attempting to troubleshoot a point-to-point cabling system with multiple devices will most likely face a frightening, spaghetti-like mess of wiring to guess over. What's more, moving even one cord on a crowded point-to-point cabling system can affect other connections and lead to network downtime and channel errors that can take a very, very long time to trace and correct.

Superior Telecommunications Service

Patch panel

Structured cabling solutions break down the messy cabling bulk of traditional point-to-point systems into manageable blocks for fast and reliable telecommunications service. Nationwide cabling standards, easy labeling, and logical designs all make structured cabling the right choice for fast, manageable, and scalable telecommunications cabling that accommodates additions, moves, and other system adjustments over time.

Mammoth Security Knows Structured Cabling

Mammoth Security structured cabling installation

Thanks for reading about structured cabling on our website. We want you to know that you can trust our team at Mammoth Security to develop and install the right cabling and security solutions to protect your commercial property. From cabling and cameras to alarms and access control, we take pride in what we do, and we’d love to share our expertise and workmanship with you.

If you're ready to take the next step toward securing your property, just fill out the simple form below to set up a free, zero-obligation site consultation. You’ll meet a friendly member of our team as we survey your property, discuss your cabling concerns, and begin to develop a structured cabling system that’s expertly tailored to your site’s unique layout and needs.

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