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With the popularity of wireless computer connectivity, it’s easy to forget about the advantages that Ethernet-wired networks provide. In the IT world, wired connectivity is still king for most organizations worldwide. Here are five reasons why:

More Secure

As long as firewalls and other security measures protect your wired network, it is safer from unauthorized access than wireless networks are. Your business’s wired network is completely contained, accessible only by connecting a cable to the network from inside your building. Wi-Fi signals are broadcast outside of the building, leaving them potentially open to hackers.

More Reliable

A wired signal is rarely influenced by another wired signal. But with two wireless networks located in promixity, the chances are higher for losing your connection or experiencing latency delays. Also, signal strength is more consistent with wired. Mobile workers who change locations find that their wireless signal strength can vary. Even something like a wall or a large object can affect their signal.

Faster

If you’ve ever transferred large files from one computer to another, you know that it’s usually faster over wired Ethernet than Wi-Fi. Though wireless has gotten faster in recent years, the speed can be inconsistent, and it is still slower than most wired connections. With gigabit routers, wired Ethernet can get up to 1 Gb/s with Cat5e cable and up to 10 Gb/s with Cat6. The speed doesn’t lag with unexpected or unauthorized traffic, since users must connect using an Ethernet cable.

More Control

An organization’s network administrator has more control over user access with a wired system. That makes it easier to ensure that each device has

It usually costs more to buy custom products. At ShowMeCables it can cost less. Our wide selection of bulk cable costs considerably less than shorter, pre-cut lengths. And yet with bulk cable you can wire your installation to the exact custom lengths you need.

Also, with less excess cable, it is easier to install, remove or re-route cords and to troubleshoot wiring problems. Faulty connections are easier to find in a well-ordered installation, which means less downtime during maintenance.

If you decide to try bulk cable, you might wonder what the differences are between our indoor cable and our many CMX-rated outdoor offerings. Following are the top three.

Outdoor Cable Resists Sunlight

A signature feature of outdoor-rated cables is a UV-resistant jacket, usually made of polyethylene (PE) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Indoor-rated cables have no UV protection, which means that under daily exposure to direct sunlight their jackets would degrade and crack over time.

Outdoor Cable Resists Moisture

Another main feature of outdoor cable is that it is waterproof for protection from the elements. Its PE or PVC jacket has low water absorption. An outdoor-rated CMX cable will protect your connection even if the cable jacket is submerged.

A related option is oil-resistant cable. It is made from materials that will not corrode or break down when exposed to most chemicals or oils that are found in industrial settings.

Outdoor Cable Can Go Underground or Overhead

There are two other types of outdoor cable that can go where indoor cable would not survive for long. Direct burial cable is designed to be installed underground. It is “flooded,” meaning the core is filled with gel that blocks any outside moisture seepage.

Aerial cable is used between two poles in the air. A rigid cable called a “messenger” runs pa

USB cables are everywhere − at work, at home, even in our vehicles. ShowMeCables should know, as we offer more than 150 types of them. But shopping for the cable you need does not have to be difficult. Below we summarize the benefits of USB, then clarify the differences among:

• The popular USB 2.0, USB 3.0 and USB 3.1
• Connector types USB-A, -B, -C, Mini-USB and Micro-USB.

Why USB Is so Popular

Universal Serial Bus specifications were first released in 1996 to standardize the connection of personal computers to peripheral devices. USB cables have since become the go-to connector between PCs and printers, scanners, cameras, audio players, etc. Their key advantages include:

• USB cables transfer data much faster than serial cables.
• USB cables carry power as well as signals.
• USB’s several distinct connector types make it easy to identify which plug fits where.
• USB cables are a universal standard and thus available and affordable.

USB 2.0, 3.0 and 3.1

The three versions serve mostly the same functions, with the chief difference being the speed at which data can be transferred. With a transfer speed of 10 Gbps, USB 3.1 is twice as fast as USB 3.0, which is twice as fast as USB 2.0. Increased speeds are especially useful with tasks such as copying or saving files into your external hard drive or downloading data from a camera into your PC.

USB 3.0 cables both deliver more power and consume less power than USB 2.0. Thus, charging your phone with a USB 3.0 cord will take half the time of a USB 2.0 cord. And editing a file directly from your 3.0 flash drive will not drain your laptop’s charge.

All three versions are in common use, partly because each is backwards compatible with previous versions: USB 2.0 with versions 1.0 and 1.1, USB 3.0 with versions 2.0 and 1.1, and USB 3.1 with versions 2.0 and 3.0.

With thousands of products to choose from, selecting cables for your IT installation can be confusing. Below we’ve simplified the process by dividing the products into four main uses and touching on some of the chief differences among the products for each use.

Networking Cables

Copper vs. fiber optics. An IT network transmits data with standard category rated copper cables, fiber optic lines, or a mix of the two. Each type of cable has its advantages. Fiber can carry data more than 1,000 times faster than copper-based Ethernet networks and for much greater distances. But copper Ethernet cables cost less and are much more widespread − most networking products are built withRJ45 copper ports rather than fiber ports. Media converters can translate signals between the two but going fully fiber can be costly and is unnecessary for many applications. In most cases copper-based Ethernet is fast enough. But if you need to transmit high volumes of voice, video and data in an environment like a data center or a financial institution, fiber optic connectivity can make sense.

There are a variety of copper Ethernet cables to choose from. Below we list the main types and their features.

Cat5e cable is the minimum standard unshielded twisted pair cabling used for LAN drops. It is used in 100Base-T Ethernet. It has a bandwidth of 100 MHz and a maximum data rate of 1 Gbps at up to 100 meters.

Cat6 has less cross talk and system noise than Cat5e. It can carry gigabit Ethernet in commercial buildings and is also used for phone lines and in residences. It has a bandwidth of 250 MHz and data rates of 1 Gbps at up to 100 meters and 10 Gbp

In 2021 we published a blog post covering products that help you manage your cables – from rack and cabinet attachments to wall and ceiling cable routers to ties and straps for bundling. In this post we discuss the overall benefits of properly managing your cables.

ShowMeCables’ unique background has made us experts on this topic. You may know us only as a maker and seller of connectivity products. But actually we grew from a parent company, INC Installs, which has been installing networks for more than 25 years. With all that experience both making and installing cables, we’ve come up with what we believe are the four biggest benefits of cable management.

Cable Management Makes a Workplace Safer

According to industry safety advocate Arbill, the second most common cause of workplace injuries in the U.S. is tripping and falling because of wires and cables that are not properly organized. Such safety hazards can lead to injuries and lawsuits.

If you work at home, a lone cord that is not bundled, hidden or tucked away can be irresistible to a small child or a family pet. This can lead to cable damage or much worse if an electrical wire is involved.

An unmanaged cable is more likely to be exposed to abrasion, which can require maintenance or replacement. With a damaged jacket, a cable that receives a power surge is more likely to cause problems with the components it is connected to − or even spark a fire.

Cable Management Reduces Maintenance Costs

Some cable management devices pay for themselves over and over by reducing equipment maintenance. Especially popular are products that provide cable strain relief, such as lacing bars and D-rings. They usually attach to an equipment rack and prevent incoming and outgoing cords from being routed at sharp angles. Strain relief lengthens cable l

While shopping for duplex fiber optic cable you’ll see a few terms that can be confusing. Namely, what’s the difference between simplex and duplex fiber, and what do “single mode” and “multimode” mean? We clarify this below, and also discuss some common applications of duplex fiber cables.

Simply put, simplex and duplex describe the number of physical fibers, while single mode and multimode refer to the fiber optic glass types that are used.

Simplex vs Duplex Fiber

A simplex fiber cable is one strand of glass or plastic fiber. It can operate either in half-duplex mode or full-duplex mode, depending on the transceivers it is attached to. In half-duplex mode, it can transmit data from Point A to Point B or from Point B to Point A, but not both directions at the same time. In full duplex, the single strand can send and receive data simultaneously.

A duplex fiber cable consists of two strands of glass or plastic fiber. Each fiber is jacketed separately but the two are often either molded together in “zip-cord” fashion or joined with clips. Like simplex, it also can operate in half-duplex mode or full-duplex mode depending on the equipment it is attached to. In half-duplex, one strand transmits in one direction, from A to B or B to A, but not in both directions at once. However, duplex fiber is most used in full-duplex mode, with a transmit signal on one fiber and a receive signal on the other fiber occurring simultaneously. Therefore, it connects devices that require the transmit and receive signals to be on separate fibers.

Uses for Duplex

One benefit of duplex fiber optic cable is that it can serve the function of two simplex cables but is easier to install and maintain because it is one cable. Typical uses for duplex fiber cables include workstations, fiber switches and servers, fiber modems, and other types of networking hardware. Duplex fiber cables ar

Of all the industries that ShowMeCables serves, when it comes to making products that are safe and reliable, the stakes are always high for the health care industry. Whether we are providing bacteria-resistant Ethernet cables or hospital-grade power cords, we realize that our products will be applied with human lives on the line.

Below we describe some of the ways health care connectivity products differ from those of other industries. We also clarify some of the specifications you will see when shopping for these products.

Antibacterial/Antimicrobial Ethernet Cable Assemblies

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that infections contracted in American hospitals lead to 99,000 deaths every year. The CDC also reports that 1 in 31 hospital patients gets an infection every day. Awareness of the problem has been high since at least 2009, when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services published a national action plan to prevent what it calls HAIs, or health care-associated infections.

One way that HAIs can spread is via the telecommunications and networking cables that keep a health care facility connected. Harmful bacteria and other pathogens may take the cables for a ride, contaminate surrounding objects and surfaces, and expose patients. Most countries have strict codes aimed at preventing this by maintaining an environment that is optimally free of bacteria and other dangerous microbes. One way to meet such codes is to cover and seal cable assemblies with an additional material. But if adding cable jacketing or shrouding is deemed too costly or bulky, an alternate solution is to use cable made with bacteriostatic and antimicrobial materials.

ShowMeCables offers a line of antibacterial cable assemblies that

If you Google “Ethernet cables” you’ll get about 5 million hits. It’s no wonder that shopping for Ethernet cables can be confusing. But if you simplify the cables down to their main differences, it’s much easier to choose the one that’s best for your use.

This blog post explains the chief differences among the cable categories. But instead of trying to cover everything from Cat1 to Cat8, we discuss only the four categories used most in office networks, data centers and residences: Cat5e, Cat6, Cat6a and Cat7. We conclude by clarifying some of the choices you might also have to make about cable jacketing types and their burn ratings.

Cable Categories

In each Ethernet cable category below, we discuss the four most important features that delineate one category from another. The first is a cable’s maximum data rate, which is measured in megabits or gigabits per second. The second feature is the longest distance it can maintain that data rate. The third is a cable’s bandwidth (in megahertz), which basically determines how much data can be transferred at any one time. The fourth feature is whether or not the conductors are shielded − with unshielded cables being more flexible and thus easier to install, and shielded cables offering more protection against electromagnetic interference (EMI).

Cat5e cable is the minimum standard unshielded twisted pair cabling used for LAN drops. It is used in 100Base-T Ethernet. It has a bandwidth of 100 MHz. Its maximum data rate and distance are 1 Gbps at up to 100 meters, a big upgrade over the 100 Mbps rate of Cat5.

The word “custom” sounds expensive. Often it is. A new Porsche 911 S Exclusive is not cheap, but if you want one with a custom “python green” paint job, it’s an extra $98,000. Examples like that might make one wary about going the custom route.

One reason more people don’t buy custom cable assemblies is that they think they can’t afford it. While it’s true that nonstandard assemblies can be pricier up front, they can save you money in the long run. This blog post points out three ways you can come out ahead with custom cables.

Longer Lasting

Going custom means choosing a cable and connectors that were specifically designed for a certain purpose. When your installation operates within the electrical parameters, tolerances and environmental conditions it was intended for, it will perform better and last longer. Less maintenance will save you money.

Less Waste

When you have cable cut to the exact length you need, none is wasted. You’re not left with yards of cable you might never use. There’s no excess slack that can get tangled with other cords and requires you to buy more cable management products. Cleaner installations take up less room, allowing you to better utilize space. Also, at ShowMeCables there’s less waste with custom because there are no minimum order requirements − you don’t have to buy five or 10 just to get one.

Less Labor and Time

Saved time is saved money. One feature of custom cable assemblies is that you can specify what color you want it to be, and/or have special labels printed on the connectors. Both options make it easier and less time-consuming to identify cable when you troubleshoot a connection problem or have to add, remove or reroute wires from a bundle. This also eliminates the labor and time of applying labels yourself.

Speaking of time savings, some types of custom cable combine multiple functions within one jacket, which saves y

It’s no mystery why fiber optic technology has grown in popularity since it was introduced in the 1970s. Sending data via infrared light pulses on a fiber line, rather than electrically over copper cable, allows the transmitting of more information faster, over longer distances and with no threat of electromagnetic interference. That’s why it is often the choice for systems that demand high bandwidth over long distances, as well as short distances with large bandwidth requirements such as data centers.

But not everybody understands the crucial step onto and off of the fiber optic superhighway – the fiber optic transceiver.

A fiber optic (or optical) transceiver serves as both a transmitter and a receiver. It is a small device that is plugged or embedded into another device within a data network. At the on ramp, it converts an electrical signal from a switch or router to an optical (light) signal. At the off ramp, it converts the optical signal back to an electrical signal.

This blog explains some of the main terms you will encounter while shopping for optical transceivers.

Form Factors

A form factor indicates a transceiver’s shape and size. So that transceivers from different vendors are compatible, most manufacturers design them based on the same set of standards, known as the Multisource Agreement (MSA). We recommend you use transceivers that are MSA compliant.

Some common form factors include GBIC, SFP, SFP+ and XFP.  Which type you should use depends on the speed, throughput and distance you need to achieve.

Though many GBIC and SFP transceivers perform equally, SFPs are generally considered an upgrade. The SFP’s design is based on the GBIC but it is smaller and allows the placement of more transceivers per inch on a motherboard. Ideal for data communica