Cabling is the part of a network you install once and live with for a decade. Switches get replaced every few years; cable inside walls does not. That asymmetry should drive every decision here.
Start with the distances
Measure the longest actual route, not the floor plan distance. Through ceilings, down risers and around obstructions, runs come out considerably longer than a drawing suggests.
Under 90 metres, copper works. Over it, you need fiber or a switch positioned closer to the outlets.
Category: Cat6 or Cat6A
Cat6 is tested to 250 MHz, carries 1 Gbps across a full 90-metre link, and 10 Gbps over roughly 37 to 55 metres. It suits desktops, printers, IP phones and most access points.
Cat6A is tested to 500 MHz and holds 10 Gbps across the full 100-metre channel, with better control of alien crosstalk between neighbouring cables in a tray. It is also thicker — 7 to 8 mm against 5.5 to 6 mm — and needs a wider bend radius, which matters if conduit is already in the walls.
The practical answer for most offices: Cat6A on backbone risers and to Wi-Fi 6 access points, Cat6 to the desks.
Solid or stranded
Solid conductor for permanent links through walls and conduit. Stranded for patch cords, which get flexed repeatedly. Using one where the other belongs costs performance and reliability — an easy ordering mistake and an expensive one to correct.
How many outlets
Count devices, then add. Two outlets per desk rather than one costs very little during the initial pull and saves opening the ceiling later. Pull spare runs to each floor's IDF while access is easy — pulling cable into an occupied office is the expensive part, not the cable.
Remember the outlets that are not desks: access points, IP cameras, door controllers, printers, display screens.
PoE changes the specification
Where the cabling feeds IP cameras, access points or VoIP phones, PoE current generates heat in the conductor, and heat accumulates in tightly bundled trays. Quality cable with a full-size conductor limits both voltage drop and heat.
Check the switch's total PoE budget as well as its per-port rating — a switch can meet the per-port figure and still run short once every port is populated. See our network switches.
Everything must match the category
A channel performs at its weakest component. Cat6 cable in Cat5e jacks is a Cat5e channel. Specify one category across cable, jacks, patch panels and patch cords.
Plan the rack at the same time
Add the U height of your patch panels, switch, recorder and UPS, put a cable manager between each panel and switch, then add 30 to 40 per cent for growth. A 24-outlet office typically lands around 8U, which a 9U wall-mount rack covers. Depth matters too — measure the deepest device and add roughly 100 mm for cabling behind it. Our racks and cable managers guide covers the arithmetic.
Supply across Chennai
We supply Cat6 cable, information outlets, faceplates, patch cords, patch panels, racks, cable managers and switches — the complete active and passive requirement. Star Networking Services has supplied networking products in Chennai since 1998, across more than 300 projects for IT companies, hospitals, factories, offices, system integrators and contractors.
Send us your floor plan, outlet count or BOQ and we will work out quantities as one list. See the full range, or request a quote.