In this day and age, technology changes quite quickly. But in all these changes, one thing that has been constant is that almost everything relies on digital connectivity. This means that it’s important to have a cabling system that can accommodate the evolving needs of our digital lifestyles. Whether you are building or renovating your home, you can ensure that you don’t either do too much work or destroy the aesthetics of your home to upgrade your cabling in the future.
To do this, you need to take proactive steps to future-proof your cable installation. And in this article, we’ll look at some tips that can help you stay ahead of the curve and enjoy a reliable and high-performing network for years to come.
Plan for scalability
As technology changes, new cabling requirements come up. This means that before you even start the home project, you need to assess your current requirements and anticipate potential future needs. This way, you can design a cable infrastructure that can easily accommodate additional devices and bandwidth requirements.
One simple way to plan for scalability is by installing more cable runs than what you currently require. You may have some rooms that you don’t think need cabling, but you can have cables run there. Another way to ensure that you can scale your installation is to run trunks and conduit systems that can allow extra cables.
Use high-quality cables
When future-proofing your home cable installation, one of the most critical factors to consider is the use of high-quality cables. A few years back, Category 5e cables were the standard. However, today, they are continuing to get outdated along with Category 6 as lots of networks support more than 1 GB. When doing your installation with future-proofing in mind, the minimum you should use is Category 6a cables as they support up to 10 Gbps.
In terms of durability, consider going for cables with solid copper conductors instead of copper-clad aluminium (CCA) conductors. The former provides better conductivity and longevity. Ensure you also look for thicker insulation and shielding, as it means better protection from electromagnetic interference.
Use Metal Cable Trunking
Cable trunking is another great way of future-proofing your home. Essentially, it refers to the use of cable channels or conduits that house and organize your cables, ensuring they are neat, well-protected, and easily accessible. And if you use metal trunking for network or electrical wiring, you can also ensure that the trunking lasts for as long as you want and provides maximum protection to your cables.
Cable trunking becomes essential whenever you want to troubleshoot or upgrade your network. You will easily trace specific cables and remove or add cables without disrupting the entire setup.
Plan for wireless access points
As technology continues to evolve, wireless connectivity becomes even more important. For example, most smart devices are now wireless, and everything else is also becoming wireless. This means that you may need to ensure that in case your devices become many or spread throughout more rooms, they can all have access to a stable connection.
As such, identify areas that may have weak signals, now or in the future. From there, you can either put up the access points or ensure that the underlying infrastructure is set. You can even consider mesh networking, which involves using multiple access points that work together to create a seamless, unified network. Ensure you use the latest Wi-Fi standard, which today is Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax).
Consult with professionals
While the internet can be enough for tech-savvy and handy people, professional network technicians have the knowledge and experience to assess your specific requirements. This means that they can recommend the most suitable solutions and execute the installation while abiding by the industry’s best practices.
As such, don’t hesitate to reach out to professionals. Their expertise and technical know-how can help you create a network infrastructure that meets both your current and future needs.
