switch

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are increasingly discovering that a robust and efficient IT infrastructure is essential for not only maintaining smooth day-to-day operations but also for fostering sustainable growth. While physical components such as servers, patch panels and racks are crucial for the foundational setup, it’s the less visible but equally important devices—power distribution units (PDUs), Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches and uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs)—that truly form the backbone of a reliable network. These components work in harmony to ensure that every part of the IT ecosystem is functioning optimally, providing the necessary support for business activities and ensuring that employees can perform their tasks without interruptions. 

Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology has revolutionized networking in environments like retail stores, restaurants and office spaces. By combining data transmission and electrical power over a single Ethernet cable, PoE switches simplify network deployments, reduce infrastructure costs and enhance operational efficiency.

Modern networks demand solutions that are both efficient and adaptable. One technology that has become central to achieving these goals is Power over Ethernet cabling, lower installation costs and greater flexibility in deploying devices exactly where they are needed. 

In today’s hospitality landscape, digital experiences are no longer a luxury—they’re expected. Whether guests are checking into a boutique hotel or placing a mobile order at a quick-service restaurant, seamless technology drives satisfaction. From blazing-fast Wi-Fi to secure point-of-sale (POS) systems and ambient AV displays, IT infrastructure now plays a frontline role in operations and guest perception. 

This blog outlines key infrastructure components that hospitality IT managers, network engineers and facilities teams should prioritize when planning or upgrading systems in hotels and restaurant chains. 

The Foundation: High-Quality Cabling for Reliability and Speed 

Robust cabling is the backbone of any successful IT deployment. For high-speed data transmission in hotels and restaurants, Cat6a/7 cables are ideal. They support 10Gbps performance and better shielding to prevent interference from HVAC systems, kitchen equipment or nearby cabling. 

For safety in commercial environments,

“Hub” and “switch” are two terms that get thrown around a lot, oftentimes interchangeably. But while these two devices are similar, they are not quite the same. In a nutshell, switches are an upgrade to hubs. Both are used to connect multiple computers or other devices together in a network. The difference lies with how a hub or switch handles communications between devices on that network.

Ethernet Hubs

Hubs are an older technology that some electronics manufacturer do not even make anymore. They are less costly than switches, but also less effective. A hub is an “unintelligent” or “dumb” electronic. It does not have any components guiding the electrical signals to specific ports. Once a signal is received in one port, it comes out of all the other ports. This sends the data to any and all computers or other electronics connected to the hub. It is up to those electronics to decide whether to do anything upon receiving that data.

Any signal passing through a hub is sent out to the entire

The term splitter gets thrown around pretty often when it comes to cables. The average splitter works by taking an input signal and dividing it into multiple output signals. For example, on a two-way splitter each output will have half the normal strength since the signal is divided by two. However, this is not how ethernet signals work.

Simply put, ethernet signals cannot be divided the way audio/video signals can. There are devices called ethernet splitters, but they work differently from other kinds of signal splitters. However, a different device called a network switch can be used with ethernet cables for the same effect.

Ethernet Splitters

Ethernet splitters allow users to run one cable instead of two through walls, floors, and ceilings. But in the rooms your equipment is in, users will still need two cables. To facilitate this, ethernet splitters must be used in pairs.

For example, say you have an Internet router in Room A and need to connect hard lines to a computer plus

Cable switches are used to connect multiple signal inputs (computers, DVD players, video game consoles, etc.) to a single output (televisions, computer monitors, etc.). Switches all work on the same general principle and most are purely mechanical. A switch only goes from multiple inputs to one output; if you need to go from one input to multiple outputs, you will need a splitter instead.

Switches are used when you have a screen, such as a TV or computer monitor, that does not have enough ports. For example, say you have a TV with one HDMI port but you want to connect a DVD player, a laptop, and a video game console. One option would be to constantly reach behind the TV and switch the cables, but that gets old fast. The simpler solution would be using a switch that connects all three devices to the TV and lets you change between them at the push of a button.

Most switches are mechanical and do not require a power cable to work. The inside of a switch works similar to switching the rails