Wiring Definitions

• Backbone wiring: all wiring between wiring closets, equipment rooms and entrance facilities.
• Horizontal wiring: all cable from a work-area wallplate or network connection to a wiring closet. Horizontal wiring is so named because cable typically runs horizontally above ceilings or along the floor.
• Work area: all cable components between a horizontal-wiring wallplate or LAN outlet and end-user telecomm devices, such as telephones, data terminals, or computers. Work-area components may include connectors, cables, adapters, and terminators.
• Wiring closet: a room or cabinet that holds distribution frames, cross-connects, and other hardware needed to connect horizontal wiring to backbone wiring.
• Equipment room: houses building telecommunications systems such as PBXs, servers, and mechanical terminations of the telecomm wiring system. Considered different from a wiring closet because of the complexity of the components it contains.
• Cabling administration: includes all aspects of premises wiring related to documenting and managing the system, testing the system, and architectural plans for the system.

Recommended Backbone Wiring Media

• Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable: Choose 4-pair, 100-ohm, solid-conductor UTP cable for short- to medium-distance backbone cable in voice and data networks. Solid-conductor cables should not be subjected to repeated flexing or twisting.
• Fiber optic cable: Fiber is more expensive and requires more careful handing than other cables, but is the preferred medium for backbone cable because it offers maximum range, bandwidth and flexibility. Compact and lightweight, fiber provides high-speed transmission over a wide bandwidth. Fiber also carries data over much greater distances than copper cable and it is immune to electromagnetic interference. Fiber backbone cable is also far less likely to require replacement.
• Coaxial cable: Although recognized by the TIA/EIA as a suitable, economical choice for backbone cable in small, Thin Ethernet (10Base2) applications, CXtec does not recommend 50-ohm coaxial cable for new installations.

Horizontal Wiring

Most cables are part of the horizontal wiring system. This includes all cables dedicated to premises switching equipment and telecommunication services, as well as all LAN and datacomm cables. These cables are installed during a building's construction phase. Once a building is completed, horizontal cables are far less accessible than backbone cables. That's why it is so important to consider your choice of horizontal cable and layout carefully-especially in new construction.

Recommended Media for Horizontal Wiring

• UTP: Low-cost, 100-ohm UTP cable supports a range of applications up to 100 MHz. It is a preferred medium for horizontal wiring.
• Fiber optic: Because of its increased bandwidth capabilities and the availability of work-area outlet connections, fiber optic cable is becoming a popular choice for horizontal connections. The TIA/EIA-568A standard recognizes two fiber cables: 9/125 m for single-mode applications and 62.5/125 m for multimode applications. Optical signal wavelengths of 1310/1550 nm for single-mode fiber and 850/1300 nm for multimode fiber are commonly used to transmit data. For testing, an 850-nm signal is recommended for multimode; 1300-nm for single-mode.
• Coaxial cable: As with backbone cable, coaxial cable is not recommended for horizontal wiring, because the entire system could collapse if one cable is disrupted.

Terminating 110-style Patch Panels and Wallplates

The following instructions will help you connect your wallplate and/or patch panel with the 110-type punch down connector to Cat5 cabling.

• Strip no more than two inches of the outer jacket off the cable, exposing the colored conductors. Take care to make sure the colored conductors are not damaged.
• Carefully separate the colored conductors. To insure Category 5 transmission performance, do not untwist the paired conductors more than 1/2 an inch.
• Carefully place each conductor into the appropriate slot on the 110 block, one pair at a time, and punch them down using a 110-type punch tool. To insure Category 5 transmission performance, punch the conductors from the center to the outside.
• Trim excess so conductors are flush and place strain relief caps over the connections. Jack should now be ready for use.