Often, you’ll find that your router or access point will give you the option of two Wifi band. There is no better option but just what works best for your situation.

2.4ghz band travels at longer wavelength which will allow the band to travel further distance and penetrate through walls and floor but is prone to interferences. These interferences can cause your internet speed to decline.

5ghz band travels at a shorter wavelength and offer more channels which is less prone to interference but it unable to travel in distance. Due to the shorter wavelengths, 5ghz band is able to give a higher internet speed depending on how far you are away from your source.

Depending on what you are trying to accomplish, first ask yourself what you need the Wifi for and if speed and distance is a factor. This will help with where you want to place your router or access point in an area where speed is important but utilize the 2.4ghz band for distance.

When installing multiple cable, it’s important to label each one. Labeling each cable will help with locating and testing without any confusion. This will cut your time on site and be organize for any maintenance in the future. If cables are being ran to a new construction area, make sure that your label is eligible and protected so that it won’t be lost or cover by building material (debris, paint, etc.).

A customer of ours had ask us to come in and pre-run cables for them. They handed us a floorplan to follow and to have everything ready so once the cubicle is installed, we’ll just come in and drop them to each cubicle. The problem came when we arrived the day to drop the cables and the customer had changed the floor plan. This had cause 50% of the cables that was original ran to now being too short and unusable. We had to spend another couple day of work to sort what is useable and running new cables for the remaining amount.

One of the major benefits of fiber splicing is a lower insertion loss when compared to terminating a connector. There are two ways to splice fiber, mechanical splice, or fusion splice.

Mechanical Splicing

Mechanical splicing doesn’t require any expensive equipment. This splicing method is a junction of 2 or more fiber to hold them in place once it has been aligned. The cover can be a snap on or contain adhesive to permanently hold the splice. Now this doesn’t mean that the fiber is bonded but just precisely aligned so that light can pass from one fiber to the other. Mechanical splicing is a fast and quick solution to repair any damage fiber. The only downfall is that mechanical splicing has a high insertion loss when compared to fusion splicing

Fusion Splicing

Fusion Splicing will require a fusion splicer. These splicing equipment can be expensive. The fusion method will align two ends of a fiber and permanently bond the end using an electric arc. This is the absolute best method for the lowest insertion loss and low back reflection.

There is only two ways to terminate fiber optic using either a connector or splicing. Each method has its own pros and cons. Depending on your situation one method might be more beneficial than the other. Here are a list of pros and cons of each method.

Connectors Termination

• Pro
  • This method doesn’t require expensive equipment. Multiple personnel can terminate simultaneously due to the inexpensive tools and parts.
  • All handheld tools make it easy work in any space.
  • Terminating a connector in some case can be faster than splicing.
  • Easy to coil up the slack once termination is completed.
• Con
  • The insertion loss is higher than splicing.
  • Some connectors termination methods are more time consuming.

Splicing Termination

• Pro
  • The insertion loss is less than terminating a connector.
  • Splicing is typically faster than terminating connect depending on your work area and how much room you have.
  • Can re-bond a broken fiber vs re-running a new cable.
• Con
  • Expensive equipment.
  • Requires a little bit of space in the work area.
  • Operating a splicer without a surface for the equipment to sit on will be a difficult task.
  • Not an appealing look when coiling up the remaining slack once termination is completed.

Fiber has many different types of cables to choose from when planning an installation. The two major question to gather is:

• How many fibers is required from point to point?
• The locations of where the fiber is going to be placed.

Cables that contain one of these components gel, powder, or absorbent tape are commonly used for outdoor situation. Those components play a role of defending off water from entering the cable and affecting the fiber. Loose tube and Ribbon will be your commonly use fiber for most outdoor installation. Then you’ll have your armored cable for direct burial and aerial cable that has it own steel messenger to be strung overhead.