Businesses today are internet-driven. Without a doubt, after the lights and heat are working, internet access is on everybody’s mind.
Internet speeds impact retail business revenues. Slow network speeds lead to poor customer service ratings and frustration among knowledgeable workers. The race is on between growing demands for faster, wider internet coverage and the network infrastructures required to meet them.
System designers for local area network (LAN) cable, premise cable, and structured cable now have to grapple with the challenges and demands that come with the increasing need for reliable and robust internet access. Sometimes, providing customers with internet access even means designing and supplying a custom cable.
Staying in the game, therefore, means keeping up with major trends affecting commercial networks and networking cables.
Smart Devices and the Internet of Things – Employee and Customer Usage
In our productivity-driven society, smart devices are increasingly ubiquitous. Gartner predicts that by 2020, 20.4 billion devices will be connected with the Internet of Things (IoT).
Individuals arrive at the workplace or a retail space with at least one smart device—81% of adults in the U.S. own a smartphone. Those workers also show up expecting their devices to run smoothly.
Retail customers are even more demanding with smartphone performance. In fact, they will often take their business elsewhere if a particular location’s network performance fails to meet their expectations.
Multimedia Devices and LAN Cable
Many modern multimedia devices connect to the internet using—at the very least—LAN cables. LAN cables allow these devices to communicate with and synchronize across one another throughout the building. Some modern multimedia devices even require the internet to function properly in order to operate correctly.
Power Over Ethernet (PoE) Premise Cable
Smart devices are increasingly integrated in commercial building infrastructures – the concept of a “smart building.” Today, automated lighting, temperature controls, and security systems connect to the internet via premise cables. These smart infrastructure devices require 24/7 power and internet connectivity.
Growth in smart device usage has also increased demand for Power-over-Ethernet cables. These cables bundle electric power wire and Ethernet cabling into one cable jacket. Special considerations are taken to prevent fire and water damage, and various specifications are available to accommodate the needs of a wide variety of devices.
Once limited to 100 feet, PoE cable can now extend to much longer distances with the use of composite and hybrid cables. These cables feature a power pair and a fiber optic cable to extend the data distance dramatically and are available in round and Siamese constructions. As an expert in powered cable solutions, Remee Wire & Cable provides a very helpful Bandwidth/Power Chart as a helpful tool to determine the cable needed for the distance required.
PoE cables and other Powered Cable Solutions simplify premise cable systems and improve the reliability of the devices they service. In addition, they reduce costs of adding more electrical outlets to a building’s power infrastructure.
Cloud and Edge Services Require Flawless Connectivity
Cloud computing is a pervasive network trend that is pushing in-house servers out of today’s commercial settings. Cloud services are easily scalable to accommodate anything from small businesses to large corporations.
But regardless of scale, cloud computing means that reliable and fast internet service is more important than ever. To use cloud services instead of on-premises servers, customers need to invest in the highest-grade structured cable system to ensure uninterrupted internet access.
This also means grappling with network problems, such as latency. IoT devices that are relegated to the edge of the network experience latency while receiving information from the central network. This latency can cause serious problems – for instance, consider an autonomous vehicle receiving delayed signals. Edge computing addresses latency issues by relocating some of the critical processing power to the edge of the network.
“By combining the data-gathering potential of edge computing with the storage capacity and processing power of the cloud, companies can keep their IoT devices running fast and efficient without sacrificing valuable analytical data that could help them to improve services and drive innovation.” – Kaylie Gyarmathy for vxchange.com
Fiber optic premise cables are now necessary to keep internet speeds blazing fast. Remee Wire and Cable supplies cables that provide up to 10 Gb speeds and enable growth to keep up with internet provider improvement.
The Digital Ceiling
All told, fast and reliable internet is becoming nearly as necessary as electricity. If the network is down, most financial transactions, communications, and record-keeping are put on hold. Unfortunately, larger buildings are notorious for having weak spots in internet connectivity.
Cisco proposes that the digital ceiling is the solution to the problem of inconsistent internet access through large buildings. The digital ceiling aims to create a “smart building” by unifying several smart technologies.
With this digital building solution, internet routers and receivers are dispersed through an automated lighting system. Signal obstructions are unlikely to be in the air, and the network wiring is unobtrusive.
The digital ceiling concept also integrates security systems, temperature controls, and other building-wide systems. Building managers can control many services through one interface.
Smart Structured Cables
Structured cables will be instrumental in helping commercial buildings integrate new smart technology.
Smart systems are on the rise in all commercial spheres. Smart infrastructure options offer many benefits for companies looking to decrease energy consumption – with solutions such as automated lighting and temperature controls. Smart security systems also provide huge improvements over their predecessors. Even personal smart devices are now rising in popularity, and retail and commercial spaces must meet consumer demands.
These new technologies offer many new possibilities for business and innovation. Structured cabling systems help provide the networks to integrate all of these new technologies into one smart system.
Remee Wire and Cable
Remee Wire and Cable offers high-quality and creative solutions to constructing a modern network infrastructure. Remee provides Activate™ fiber optic and copper composite constructions for advanced Powered Cabling Solutions, as well as premium performance LAN cables providing up to 10 Gb speeds.
If needed, Remee also offers custom cables – consult our Ask an Expert service to help you easily and effectively design your new premise cable system.
Remee’s cables will power and connect all the network and smart technology infrastructure in your building. They all provide excellent, reliable internet speeds and network coverage to help your business grow with your customer’s needs.
See Remee’s Fiber Optic Cable Design Guide