Monthly Archives: February 2022

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