With the rise of wireless networking technology, more electronic devices are being built with this specifically in mind.
Where it was once the only industry standard, where does this leave traditional physical data cabling? Is it worth converting your network to a wireless connection? Wireless networking certainly has its benefits, with great flexibility and reduced physical space, however data cabling still has several advantages.
Security is one of the key areas in which physical data cabling still excels.
It offers a higher level of security than wireless networks, as it is a lot easier for someone else to gain access to a wireless network.
While security precautions such as password protection can be set, the very nature of wireless puts it a disadvantage in this regard.
Electromechanical interference and radio frequency interference is still a problem with wireless networks, with the network susceptible to picking up outside frequencies.
With properly installed, shielded network data cabling, this interference is significantly reduced.
Another of physical cablings greatest assets is its consistent connection.
Wireless is prone to momentary lapses in signal, or interference from outside frequencies as mentioned above.
This can prove highly inconvenient, especially while data transfer is being performed, potentially severing download connections.
It can also affect data transfer rates and can lead to unacceptable corruption of files.
There are few things worse than waiting hours for a large file to transfer, only to find that you cant open it because your connection dipped out for a moment half way through.
Cabling allows for a far more robust connection and eliminates these kind of worries.
High speeds are also a great function of physical cabling.
While not all networks will offer the same high speeds, newer forms of twisted pair data cabling can transfer data at rates of up to 10 gigabits.
Fiber optic cabling transmits light instead of regular data information, making it the best option for high speed data transfer and extended ranges.
While mobility is the key advantage to Wireless networking, it is not without its limitations either.
They offer excellent mobility, especially for portable devices, due to the fact that there are no physical wires to restrict their movement.
However, users must always remain within range of a transceiver and must be directly connected to a cabling system to use data transfer possibilities.
Expanding your network using data cabling is also a fairly easy process.
It is generally a simple case of connecting a router or hub to the existing cabling and then connecting your device to the hub/router.
Each hub or router can support up to as many as 255 devices.
So, taking all of these benefits in to consideration, it would seem that there is still a lot of life left in physical data cabling.
It provides a much more reliable service and offers far more secure data transfer over the sometimes-temperamental wireless alternative.
Where it was once the only industry standard, where does this leave traditional physical data cabling? Is it worth converting your network to a wireless connection? Wireless networking certainly has its benefits, with great flexibility and reduced physical space, however data cabling still has several advantages.
Security is one of the key areas in which physical data cabling still excels.
It offers a higher level of security than wireless networks, as it is a lot easier for someone else to gain access to a wireless network.
While security precautions such as password protection can be set, the very nature of wireless puts it a disadvantage in this regard.
Electromechanical interference and radio frequency interference is still a problem with wireless networks, with the network susceptible to picking up outside frequencies.
With properly installed, shielded network data cabling, this interference is significantly reduced.
Another of physical cablings greatest assets is its consistent connection.
Wireless is prone to momentary lapses in signal, or interference from outside frequencies as mentioned above.
This can prove highly inconvenient, especially while data transfer is being performed, potentially severing download connections.
It can also affect data transfer rates and can lead to unacceptable corruption of files.
There are few things worse than waiting hours for a large file to transfer, only to find that you cant open it because your connection dipped out for a moment half way through.
Cabling allows for a far more robust connection and eliminates these kind of worries.
High speeds are also a great function of physical cabling.
While not all networks will offer the same high speeds, newer forms of twisted pair data cabling can transfer data at rates of up to 10 gigabits.
Fiber optic cabling transmits light instead of regular data information, making it the best option for high speed data transfer and extended ranges.
While mobility is the key advantage to Wireless networking, it is not without its limitations either.
They offer excellent mobility, especially for portable devices, due to the fact that there are no physical wires to restrict their movement.
However, users must always remain within range of a transceiver and must be directly connected to a cabling system to use data transfer possibilities.
Expanding your network using data cabling is also a fairly easy process.
It is generally a simple case of connecting a router or hub to the existing cabling and then connecting your device to the hub/router.
Each hub or router can support up to as many as 255 devices.
So, taking all of these benefits in to consideration, it would seem that there is still a lot of life left in physical data cabling.
It provides a much more reliable service and offers far more secure data transfer over the sometimes-temperamental wireless alternative.