Chapter 21: Cabling, Connectors and Wiring

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Don't forget connectivity. Consider how the deployment team will connect the APs to the wired network, and how the antennae will connect to the APs and PC cards.

Some may wonder why there is a chapter on cabling since Wi-Fi is wireless. But cables and connectors are still needed even for Wi-Fi installations. For instance, you need a Category 5 or 5e cable to connect the access point to the wired portion of the network. You also may need to connect an antenna to an AP, or a device's wireless NIC to a removable antenna.

Category 5 and 5e Cable

While Wi-Fi allows you to build a data network without the cost and congestion of cabling, you will still need Category 5 or 5e cabling. Category 5 cabling connects your access point to the wired data network.

Category 5 and 5e cable is the most common type of cable used to connect a network of computers or to connect a computer system to the Internet.

Category 5, which is made up of eight color-coded, twisted copper phone wires encased in a sheath, has been the network cabling standard since 1994. In 1998, however, Category 5 was superseded by Category 5e, which is short for "Enhanced Category 5." Similar to Category 5 cable, Category 5e is enhanced to support speeds of up to 1000 Mbps, more commonly referred to as 1 Gbps.

Testing is more stringent for Category 5e cables than for Category 5 products. Its testing criteria include several additional measurements, some of which help to better quantify the UTP cable's noise characteristics. Furthermore, despite its 100 MHz specified bandwidth, category 5e is usually tested to a bandwidth of 350 MHz.

Category 5 and Category 5e cable are the preferred cable types for structured cabling systems. For instance, Category 5e is designed to support Gigabit Ethernet Networks, but either Category 5 or 5e cabling is typically used in Fast Ethernet Networks (10Base-T, 100Base-T4 and 100Base-TX), FDDI networks, and even some ATM networks.

RJ45 connectors and Jack Modules are used on both Cat 5 and 5e cabling.

Access Points

Cabling for access points is easy, since the only answer is to use Category 5 or 5e cabling to connect the AP to its wired component. But note that both CAT 5 and 5e cabling have length limitation of 328 ft. per cable run. Therefore, if the coverage area is more than 328 feet away from the pipe to the wired network, you will need one or more intermediate devices (hub, router, switch) along with the necessary power source, to connect the backhaul point with the coverage area.

Be sure to label the cabling (at each end of the run) as it is installed, describing each drop point location. Draw up and maintain a cabling diagram, to indicate exactly where the cabling is located in reference to the facility's floorplan/layout.

Many locations, such as the executive office suite, will not want the cabling (or access points for that matter) to be visible. That means that the installer must run the individual drop points in such a manner that the cabling is hidden from view, or aesthetically acceptable.

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