Cat6 is a good choice when it comes to designing your new network infrastructure. Like Cat5e, its available in a variety of colours and meets industry standards by conforming to both Reaction-to-fire class according to en 13501-6: Dca and Smoke development class according to en 13501-6: s2

It also offers more benefits than Cat5e as Cat6 is capable of higher throughput. Generally, with today’s networks, the most common network contains 1 Gb switching. However, Cat6 is backward compatible and can transmit lower speeds such as 100mbps.

Cat6 can increase performance on the network as it offers lower levels of interference and cross talk. Cross talk is a form of interference where signals are transmitted and have undesired effects on other channels, slowing the connection.

Cat6A is the next level when it comes to copper cabling. It has been designed in a way to meet all the requirements of a standard Cat6 cable, but also exceeds the requirements. Cat6A is capable of 10Gb Ethernet, also known as 10GBASE-T to support applications up to distances of 90m.

Cat6A can be used in most environments whether that is an internal office wanting to future proof their network or run multigigabit networks to data centre environments.

As do the other cable types PCS can provide, our Cat6A meets industry standards such as Reaction-to-fire class according to en 13501-6: Cca and Smoke development class according to en 13501-6: s1a.

Cat 7 is another high throughput copper cable. It is backward compatible and can work in Cat5e, 6, and 6A infrastructures. It can run 10 Gb ethernet (10GBASE-T). The main difference is the frequency the cable is capable of.

Cat6A performs at 500 MHz, while Cat 7 performs at 1000 MHz meaning the signals transfer twice the speed of Cat6A. Each of the 4 pairs in this cable are individually wrapped with a protective foil screen.

They are then wrapped in a foil braid. This is protection against different types of interference such as crosstalk and noise that could potentially affect the transmission of signals.

Cat7 is an ideal choice for data centre environments where transfer speeds are critical. It meets industry standards such Reaction-to-fire class according to en 13501-6: Dca and Smoke development class according to en 13501-6: s2.

Fibre backbones are critical in large scale networks. They can offer faster transfer speeds across longer distances than copper cabling. Fibre cabling comes in multiple sizes to give multiple connections from a single cable. This includes 4, 8, 12 and 24 cores.

Multi-mode
Multi-mode fibre is commonly used in environments where data transfer is needed for distances of up to 500m. This is generally used for links to data cabinets within large buildings. Cables are designed to be lightweight, flexible, and easy to install.

Single-mode
Single-mode fibre is commonly used in environments where data transfer is required over long distances of up to 40km. Single-mode fibres have substantially smaller cores of fibre to be able to transfer data across the longer distance.  

Termination
We can terminate the fibre in various ways using different methods of connection. This includes SC (subscriber connector), ST (Straight tip) and LC (Latching connector) We use top of the range splicing equipment to ensure connections are terminated to industry standard and free of defects.

All the fibre cable PCS supplies meets industry standards (Euroclass Cca-s1a-d0-a1) and comes with a 25 year warranty. As with the copper cabling that we can supply, fibre installations will be fully tested, and results provided to customers.

As a result of some very high-profile and recent building fires, BS 7671:2018 Requirements for Electrical Installations and wiring standards came into effect from January 2019

This means that Installations designed after 31 December 2018 will have to comply with BS 7671:2018. PCS can help ensure you are compliant with this change.