ᐅ Cabling for access points: choosing the correct network cable

Hello everyone,

Last week, I went through our terraced house with the electrician and shared all my requests, including where the access points should be installed in the future.

I was thinking of using Unify Nano devices, and it is important to me that the power is supplied via the network cable at the ceiling.

Now I am wondering if I should have a special cable installed, or if it doesn’t matter for the power supply as long as it is a network cable.

Thank you very much in advance.

Standard Cat 7 is perfectly fine. Cat 7A is also an option if the additional cost isn’t too high. All are POE capable. What’s more important is the placement and the total number of network cables. Also, the type of connectors (modular, keystone, deep boxes, etc.). There are countless detailed discussions about this here. 😉

To be well prepared for the future, I would recommend choosing a CAT7 installation cable.
A keystone jack can then be installed on this, and connected to the Nano HD with a short CAT7 patch cable.
If you prefer a branded cable, you could use, for example, Draka cable, but this is absolutely not necessary.

What type of ceiling will it be? Concrete or drywall ceiling? For concrete, using a junction box is recommended to hide the cable end. With a drywall ceiling, you can also do this within the ceiling cavity.

For the cable, as mentioned, I would also choose CAT 7 or CAT 7A. I still use POE over CAT 5E cables and it works fine.

i_b_n_a_n schrieb:

Standard Cat.7 is perfectly fine. Cat.7A is also an option if the price difference isn’t too high. All cables support PoE. More important is the positioning and the total number of network cables. Also, the type of connectors used (modular, keystone, deep back boxes, etc.) There are plenty of detailed discussions about this here anyway 😉

Thank you very much for the quick response 🙂

The plan is to have one access point per floor (each approximately 45m2 (480 sq ft)). Additionally, the home office will have a standard network connection.

hanse987 schrieb:

What kind of ceiling will it be? Concrete or drywall ceiling? For concrete, it’s recommended to use a junction box to hide the cable end. With a drywall ceiling, you can also do this in the ceiling cavity.

As for the cable, as mentioned, I would also choose CAT 7 or CAT 7A. I’m currently running POE over CAT 5E cable and it works fine.

These are concrete ceilings, but I don’t actually know how they will be constructed. I have only shared my ideas and intended use. Should I discuss this again with the electrician?