Ever wonder what people mean when they say things like WiFi-a or ac-WiFi? The letters tells the speed of the wireless signal. You can look at the chart to see the actual speeds and the year they became a standard. 802.11ax is the fastest on this chart. Currently, our standard is 802.11ax for new WiFi installations. If you need help with designing or installation of WiFi equipment, please Contact Us and we can answer your questions.

UTP stands for Unshielded Twisted Pair, while STP stands for Shielded Twisted Pair, and most applications require UTP. The difference between the two is that STP has foil wrapping each of it's pairs, along with a shield, or drain, wire. STP requires special RJ45 connectors that has a mechanism to connect the shield wire. Not sure which type you need, we can help you pick, Contact Us now for more information.

So, you've heard the term plenum before, but never paid it any mind. Well, today is the day. There are different ratings of UTP/STP cable, which the biggest factor is how much smoke they produce if a fire was to break out. There are other variances, but that is the major one.
First, let's define what the plenum space is. Most businesses have false ceilings, and the space above the ceiling tiles to the actual ceiling is typically the plenum area. Since that is air that the people below it breathe, it makes a difference on smoke inhalation. Cable designed for plenum areas give off a lot less smoke than other ratings of cables. General rule of thumb, when in doubt, use plenum cable. If you need help deciding which type suits you best, feel free to Contact Us with any questions you may have.

They sound similar, but when it comes to network cabling, there is a huge difference. If you were to go to your local Home Depot or Lowe's, and purchase a LAN or cable tester from there, it would be what is called a wire-mapper. It just makes sure that all 8 conductors of the cable are pinned out properly. It basically says 'This SHOULD Work'. But there are a lot of other factors like crosstalk that affect a cable's performance. That's where a certifier comes in, it will do the wire-map, but then they run several other tests on the cable and comes back saying 'This WILL Work'. An analogy would be, a wire-mapper would look at the tire on a car and say 'This should work', but a certifier will go and also make sure lug nuts are torqued to manufacturer's specs., tire pressure is at manufacturer's specs., etc, and will say 'This WILL Work' if that makes sense. Another feature of certifier's is that most of them can produce PDF results, so you, as the customer, can receive a copy of your cable test results. This is something you should request of your cable installer. If you would like more information, please Contact Us.