It is fair to say that we now live in a wired world, where advanced electronic devices are used more than ever for communication, entertainment, and work alike. Some devices, such as laptops and smartphones, are designed to send and receive wireless signals, making them very convenient on the go. Still, various cable types such as coaxial cables, crossover cables, bulk USB cables, and more are far from obsolete. In fact, in many applications, these coaxial cables or USB cables may prove more effective and practical than a wireless signal. And installing bulk fiber optic cables can totally transform how a building uses the Internet. So, what is there to know about installing proper cables such as coaxial cables or a 100 ft HDMI cable? Such hardware can be found in electronics goods stores, and they come packaged with other devices, too.
Cables for the Office
Using coaxial cables and other ethernet cables is vital for today’s businesses. Even small enterprises use computers to make spreadsheets, send internal emails, perform online research, and much more. Using more than a few computers, though, calls for cables to ensure a strong connection. It is one thing to use a single laptop at a coffee shop; it’s entirely different to try and use dozens of wireless connections in the same office building. Those signals would suffer serious interference from each other, but ethernet cables such as cat5 cables or cat6 cable models avoid that issue. IT professionals may set up the computers themselves, along with stringing up all necessary ethernet cables between routers and computers. An ethernet cable contains four pairs of copper wires to transmit data smoothly and securely, with zero risk of interference. Extended model cables, such as cat6e cables, are the longest, and that’s useful for a large office with long distances to cover. Routine inspections should also be done on those cables to check for damage or exposed wires, which are a serious fire hazard.
These ethernet coaxial cables are useful not only to connect desktop PCs to the internet, but also to form data centers. For those unfamiliar with the concept, a data server is a collection of hundreds or even thousands of computers sitting on shelves or cabinets in a dedicated room. These are not desktop PCs, and lack monitors or mice. But they are connected to each other, and to switches, via ethernet cables all over the place to form a single, powerful entity. This cohesive data center has enormous storage space and has a fast processing speed, and other cables will connect desktop PCs in the building to this data center to connect them all to each other. Those PCs may enjoy a boost to their processing speed, access that huge data storage space, and share files with ease.
Don’t forget fiber optic cables, either. Ever since the late 1980s, these cables have allowed for extremely fast internet connections. These are thin glass tubes that transmit pulse of light, and an office manager may find and hire a crew to install bundles of these cables on the premises. During this work, bonus “dark” cables are added, which may come online if any of the main cables malfunction. Dark cables also get put to work as the building’s internet usage expands.
Cables in the Home
Everyday Americans can also make good use of cables for the many electronic devices they may have at home. Ethernet cables can securely connect a PC or a game console to a router for a strong internet connection, and USB cables may connect a printer or other device to a PC. Cell phones, meanwhile, come packaged with lightning cables that will plug into the device at one end and plug into a USB port at the other. This will recharge the phone’s battery, and allow it to share data with another device such as a PC or game console. Adapters allow these cables to plug into wall sockets or car cigarette lighters. Lastly, cables can be used to build a home entertainment center, such as an HDMI cable connecting a game console or laptop to an HDTV. Other cables can connect a sound system, and an ethernet cable plugs a modern console into the router for online gaming and video streaming services.