Network Infrastructure Blog

Maybe you’ve heard about the new wave of wireless known as Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), designed to boost Wi-Fi bandwidth even higher than Wi-Fi 5! This new wave of Wi-Fi has some far-reaching implications with respect to cabling infrastructure design and media selection.

• Wi-Fi 6 wireless access points (WAPs) need two class E_A/category 6A or higher connections. Wi-Fi 6 WAPs (across all price points) will need at least one class E_A/category 6A connection to support either 2.5 Gb/s or 5 Gb/s transmission speeds. And to take full advantage of Wi-Fi 6 technology as it matures to support greater than 5 Gb/s, two connections will be required to support link aggregation.
• Wi-Fi 6 requires a minimum of 25 Gb/s capable backbone. Installing a 25 Gb/s capable multimode optical fiber backbone will be required to support Wi-Fi 6 uplink capacity. In fact, this is already a key recommendation for Wi-Fi 5 implementations per industry cabling standards.
• Wi-Fi 6 WAPs will need more power and thermally stable shielded cabling systems. Because Wi-Fi 6 radio chips are doing significantly more complex signal processing, they are unable to work within the 13-watt budget of Type 1 power over Ethernet (PoE) and will require 30-watt Type 2 PoE. Since the higher power can cause heat build-up in cable bundles, Wi-Fi 6 WAPs are better supported by thermally stable shielded cabling systems and solid conductor cords such as Siemon’s Category 6A shielded cabling qualified for mechanical reliability up to 75°C (167°F).

Sometimes an evolution in technology forces consumers to stop and question legacy views about broadly deployed operating platforms or systems. Wi-Fi 6 is that technology – easily making the wait-and-see position that many have had regarding deploying 10 Gb/s-capable horizontal networks a thing of the past.

To learn more about the cabling implications of Wi-Fi 6 and to familiarize yourself with some key design and media selection strategies to ensure that your network cabling infrastructure is ready, click HERE to download our new white paper, “Preparing for Wi-Fi 6: Cabling Considerations for High Efficiency Wireless Access Point Connections.”

While the term video over Internet Protocol (IP) has existed for quite some time, it essentially has been used to refer to any type of IP-based video transmission. However, regardless of the cabling medium, most of these systems to date have been supported by traditional audio visual (AV) architectures where signals are sent and received via AV transmitters, receivers and video matrix switches rather than using true Ethernet LAN switches. This has prohibited AV transmission from truly converging onto existing network cabling infrastructures, and they have instead remained on their own standalone network. But all that is changing with AV over IP that uses standard network equipment to transmit and control AV signals.

A Step in the Right Direction

Over the past decade, balanced twisted-pair copper cabling (i.e., Category 6 and Category 6A) has become an AV-supporting medium using baluns that enable composite and analog video to operate over the twisted-pair cabling. The use of AV over twisted-pair cabling really came to fruition in 2010 with the introduction of the HDBaseT standard.

Since it was introduced by the HDBaseT Alliance, HDBaseT has evolved to support what has been dubbed “5Play”—the transmission of ultra-high definition 4K video and audio along with 100 Mb/s Ethernet (100Base-T), USB, bidirectional control signals and 100W of power (power over HDBaseT [POH]) over a single twisted-pair cable for distances up to 100 meters using standard 8P8C (RJ45) connectivity.

While HDBaseT can run over Category 5e (to limited distances) and Category 6 cabling, the HDBaseT Alliance and HDBaseT equipment vendors all recommend the use of Category 6A twisted-pair unshielded cabling at a minimum to support the bandwidth required for 4K signals and reach the full 100-meter distance. Many AV vendors recommend stepping that up to Category 6A or Category 7A shielded twisted-pair cable to ensure a truly robust performance—especially for installations with unmanaged environmental factors. Shielded Category 6A or Category 7A offers better resistance to alien crosstalk, which has a significant impact on HDBaseT signals wherever multiple cable are bundled together. Further, with POH running at a higher remote powering level of 100W, shielded cabling offers far superior heat dissipation and thermal stability.

While HDBaseT remains the most popular AV protocol over twisted-pair cabling and was a step towards using a common cabling medium, it is not true IP as it used a different packetization protocol (T-packets). Further, an HDBaseT system must use HDBaseT equipment, so it essentially must remain as a standalone system and therefore does not meet the true definition of IP convergence.

Embracing Full AV Convergence

Today, there are newer AV protocols that truly can be considered an IP system because they transmit AV signals over standard off-the-shelf Ethernet LAN switches. Introduced in 2017, Software Defined Video over Ethernet (SDVoE) supporting uncompressed 4K video, audio, control and 1 Gb/s Ethernet (1000BASE-T) is one such platform that aims to offer greater saving, flexibility and scalability compared to HDBaseT since it addresses the full 7-layer OSI model and leverages what we in the IT industry already use for transmitting data—standards-based network cabling, Ethernet, TCP/IP and low-latency switching. It also eliminates the use of AV video matrix switches, which typically cost about 90% more per port than a standard Ethernet switch since Ethernet ports are bidirectional and can therefore be used as both an AV input and output port. Ethernet switches also typically take up about a quarter of the rack unit space compared to a video matrix switch, and they support power over Ethernet (PoE) capable of delivering up to 90W of power.

While a few other AV over IP protocols have been introduced, such as the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) 2110 standard that defines the uncompressed transmission of HD video over IP, JPEG-2000 lightly compressed video over IP, and high-efficiency H.264 and H.265 video compression for video over IP, most industry professionals see SDVoE as the most disruptive technology and the one that will ultimately pave the way for fully converged AV over IP. In response, the HDBaseT Alliance introduced HDBaseT over IP shortly after the introduction of SDVoE to also leverage standards-based network infrastructures and 10 Gb/s Ethernet switches for cross-campus transmission, but it requires HDBaseT-to-HDBaseT-IP bridges and HDBaseT-IP switches.

When it comes to network cabling media for SDVoE, Category 6A cabling is not just recommended—it’s required. SDVoE requires a 10 Gb/s Ethernet network (10GBASE-T), which can only be supported by a minimum of Category 6A cable. And for the same reasons as HDBaseT, shielded cabling is recommended—eliminating crosstalk and providing superior heat dissipation and thermal stability for remote powering (PoE in the case of SDVoE).

We’ve Got Your AV Cabling System

Regardless of whether your AV system is HDBaseT or a true IP solution like SDVoE, Siemon has the cabling systems you need to support it all—and with superior performance to fully combat video disrupting alien crosstalk for a clearer picture. And because Siemon Category 6A and 7A shielded cables offer a higher operating temperature of 75°C for better heat dissipation (exhibiting half the heat buildup of UTP) they offer superior support for the higher power levels of POH and PoE (100 and 90 Watts) needed to power video displays.

These cables can also both be terminated to our industry-leading Category 6A shielded connectivity, including our robust high-performance Z-PLUG field-terminated plug that allows for custom-length direct connections to video displays, eliminating the need for traditional outlets and patch cords for a cleaner, more aesthetically pleasing look and material cost savings. Click HERE to learn more about our shielded cabling systems and Z-PLUG to support your AV over twisted-pair application.

In everything you do in life, “safety first” should be top of mind. This holds true in personal events and in the workplace – whether you put on a helmet before riding a bike or safety glasses when working with optical fiber. The same practice applies to specifying and installing the right cable for the right environment. That is why the NFPA-70 National Electric Code® (NEC) created different cable jacket ratings.

The primary purpose of the NEC is to prevent fires and to promote safety for humans and equipment. Communication cables face varied types of environmental stresses within the different areas of a building. The NEC is intended to minimize the risk of fire and the production of smoke and toxic fumes in each of those areas through the use of different types of cables and pathways. Fire, smoke and fumes can spread in two directions – vertically between floors, known as risers, and horizontally above the ceilings or below the floor where the building’s airducts are connected for heating and air conditioning, otherwise known as plenum spaces. See the simplified illustration of the different areas of cable runs.

Top Ratings

Both copper and optical fiber communications cable have jacket ratings to indicate the approved physical locations in which they are run. There are actually 16 ratings for conductive and non-conductive communication cables, but for this article we are only concerned with the most common in our industry. The three basic ratings for both cable types are general purpose, riser and plenum rated. Copper jacketing ratings are identified as CM/CMG (General use), CMR (Communications Riser) or CMP (Communications Plenum).

• The NEC defines CMP as being listed as suitable for use in ducts, plenums, and other spaces used for environmental air and shall also be listed as having adequate fire-resistant and low smoke-producing characteristics.
• The NEC defines CMR as being listed as suitable for use in a vertical run in a shaft or from floor to floor and shall also be listed as having fire-resistant characteristics capable of preventing the carrying of fire from floor to floor.
• The NEC defines CM/CMG as being listed as suitable for general-purpose communications use, with the exception of risers and plenums, and shall also be listed as being resistant to the spread of fire.

Fiber cable jacket ratings are similar to copper but designated OFN/OFNG (Optical Fiber Non-conductive General Purpose), OFNR (Optical Fiber Non-conductive Riser) or OFNP (Optical Fiber Non-Conductive Plenum). (Note: When copper is added to a fiber cable, such as armored constructions, it adds an electrical conductivity element to the cable and will be rated OFC/OFCG, OFCR and OFCP)

In the U.S., the NEC specifies the environment where each cable is best suited. Cable ratings are based on flammability testing to meet either required NFPA or UL specifications. Most cable manufacturers have their cables tested to these specs in national recognized labs. Note that a more stringently rated cable can be substituted for a less stringently rated cable, but not the reverse.

What about LSOH?

Low Smoke Zero Halogen cables, referred to as LSOH or LSZH, are commonly used in different parts of the world. However, the NEC does not recognize LSOH cables and they are tested to different criteria than CM/CMG, CMR and CMP cables. Make sure that the cable jacket to be installed always meets the requirements specified by the electrical code that applies to your country or location. Note that there are some jacket constructions that carry dual ratings, such as CM/LSOH. This is common for patch cords where having a dual jacket allows for use in a wider range of markets.

Bottom Line

What does this all mean and why should you be concerned? Basically, matching the right cable to the environment will minimize the hazards of fire, smoke and toxicity. When creating bids or bills of materials (BOMs), installers need to make sure that they are specifying the right cable for the job – both in performance and in safety. Before completion, building inspectors will check to make sure that all wiring meets local and state codes before signing off on any work. If not, the end user will not qualify for an occupancy permit. When standards and codes are not followed, it affects everyone. We take pride at providing our customers the best in quality and in safety. And if ever in doubt – ask your regional Siemon Technical Service Group!

Siemon’s Category 6 UTP cable comes in plenum, riser and LSOH, as well as outside plant variations and even CPR compliant versions for the European market. To check out Siemon’s full line of copper and fiber cables available in a wide range of ratings, visit the cable section of our product e-catalog.

Our industry is laden with acronyms from AC (alternating current) to ZWP (zero water peak) and everything in between. The newest acronym making its mark on the structured cabling industry is MPTL. It stands for Modular Plug Terminated Link, which refers to terminating the equipment end of horizontal cable with a modular plug to connect directly into a device vs. terminating at an outlet and connecting the device with a patch cord.

You read about it first in our Standards Informant, but you need to know how the MPTL is used and its impact on the structured cabling industry, as it will affect the way we design a network. Channel implementations with an outlet and patch cord are always recommended for equipment connections because they offer more flexibility, support labeling and administration, and eliminate the need to remove long lengths of abandoned cabling should a device be moved. However, sometimes an alternate configuration is necessary, and this new acronym will help advance intelligent building and Siemon’s ConvergeIT initiatives as it provides a new means of connection for the growing number of devices that converge on a unified network infrastructure.

Installing a plug (versus an outlet) on the end of a horizontal cable and plugging directly into an end device is not a new concept, as security camera installers have been doing this since IP cameras came into existence in the late 1990s. The problem is that connecting directly to the device with a plug negates the standards definition of a permanent link, which includes the horizontal cable from the patch panel in the Telecommunications Rooms (TR) to the Equipment Outlet (EO), as well as the definition of a channel, which includes the permanent link and the patch cords on both ends.

Because the MPTL is neither a link or a channel, the main issue is testing and certifying the cable segment?  ANSI/BICSI-005 Electronic Safety and Security (ESS) System Design and Implementation Best Practices followed by ANSI/BICSI-007 Information Communication Technology Design and Implementation Practices for Intelligent Buildings and Premises were the first standard documents to accept the MPTL method and referred to it as a “direct connection.” Their solution for testing this cable segment was to override the testing procedure with a “modified permanent link.”  However, since BICSI standards are primarily design and installation guides, they defer to TIA to provide direction on cable types including testing methodology, but TIA had not specifically addressed testing this connection method. Until recently.

A Standards-Compliant Approach

In July of this year, TIA published ANSI/TIA-568.2-D in which Annex F addresses the testing and acceptance of the MPTL termination method for certain limited cases when an equipment outlet and patch cord are not practical – typically in environments where the device is not often moved or rearranged. In the MPTL configuration, the horizontal cable is terminated at a patch panel in the TR and the device end would is terminated to a plug and connected directly to the device, or it is terminated to a Service Concentration Point (SCP) outlet, typically housed in a  zone enclosure, and from there, the cable is terminated to a plug and connected directly to the device.

To verify the performance of the final plug connection at the far end, the ANSI/TIA-568.2-D standard also includes a new test procedure that includes the final plug connection . It does this using a permanent link adapter at the TR end and a patch cord adapter at the far end where the cable terminated to the plug. The test figure shows the testing configuration (courtesy of Fluke Networks). It’s important to note that the tester you use must have the proper adapters and software to accurately test this MPTL scenario.

Z-PLUG and the MPTL  

The standards’ allowance of the MPTL in certain limited cases and the increasing trend of IP-enabled IB applications is a perfect application for Siemon’s Z-PLUG.

The Z-PLUG is robust, easy to field terminate and can withstand repeatable mating and un-mating of devices. Unlike other plugs, Siemon’s Z-PLUG easily terminates to any category 5e, category 6 or category 6A cable – shielded or unshielded, solid or stranded (22 to 26 AWG) – and it meets UL 2043 plenum requirements.

If your customers are designing intelligent building systems, refer to these standards for proper cabling choices, termination and testing, but make sure you always have a Z-PLUG in your back pocket and be prepared to talk about MPTL.

In 2013, IEEE published the 802.11ac standard for very high throughput Wi-Fi, which has come to be known as Wi-Fi 5. The appeal of Wi-Fi 5 has fueled broad reaching adoption with steady growth over the past five years, accounting for more than 80% of access point shipments in 2017 and predicted to render previous Wi-Fi 4 (802.11n) products obsolete in enterprise WLAN deployments by the end of this year. And that’s no surprise — by concentrating signals and transmitting over multiple send and receive antennas in the less-crowded 5GHz spectrum, Wi-Fi 5 enables theoretical speeds that are more than 11 times faster than Wi-Fi 4!

Wi-Fi 5 Wave 1 devices hit the market a few years ago and supported speeds of up to 1.3 G/bs, and we are now seeing Wave 2 devices that can support speeds up to about 3.5 Gb/s. If you thought Wi-Fi bandwidth couldn’t get any higher, think again. IEEE is now working to boost Wi-Fi performance even higher with a new high-efficiency standard called Wi-Fi 6.

Targeted towards large public spaces where Wi-Fi 5 simply can’t keep up with the volume of devices (think crowded arenas or busy airports with hundreds of people trying to stream video at the same time), Wi-Fi 6 aims to deliver a single stream at 3.5 Gb/s with the ability to deliver four simultaneous streams for a total of at least 11 Gb/s. We won’t get into the technical details of how Wi-Fi 6 actually works, other than to state that it essentially doubles the streams of Wi-Fi 5 Wave 2 devices and leverages existing LTE cellular technology to further split the streams for four times the effective bandwidth.

Whether you’re just now upgrading to Wi-Fi 5, or already looking to deploy Wi-Fi 6, when it comes to choosing the cabling type to connect the latest 802.11 Wi-Fi access points, it should be category 6A shielded cabling or higher – hands down. And here are the top 3 reasons why:

1. Category 6A cabling is recommended by industry standards

TIA specifically states “Cabling for wireless access points should be balanced twisted-pair, category 6A or higher, as specified in ANSI/TIA-568-2.D, or two-fiber multimode optical fiber cable, OM3 or higher, as specified in ANSI/TIA-568-3.D.”

2. Category 6A cabling is the only way to achieve > 5 Gb/s throughput

Deploying two category 6A channels to access points is the only way to achieve multi-1 Gb/s link aggregation needed for immediate support of 1.3 Gb/s to 3.5 Gb/s 802.11ac Wave 1 and Wave 2 implementations, as well as multi-10 Gb/s link aggregation for future Wi-Fi 6 high-efficiency implementations. Learn more.

3. Category 6A shielded cabling is the best option for powering access points

The majority of 802.11 Wi-Fi access points are powered via power over Ethernet (PoE). Only category 6A shielded cabling or higher exhibits the heat dissipation and thermal stability to reduce length de-rating and bundling restrictions. Otherwise, you may need to reduce your channel length and bundle sizes to avoid increased insertion loss that can impact performance. Learn more.

There are additional cabling considerations to maximize performance and manageability of Wi-Fi 5 and Wi Fi 6 deployments, such as use of a zone cabling design methodology, plug-terminated links, solid conductor cords and higher temperature rated cables.

Stay tuned for more information on optimizing your next-generation Wi-Fi.