Home & Business Network Setup in London

Cat6 as standard, Cat5e respected

Both carry gigabit to the desk. We fit Cat6 because the headroom is cheap while the walls are open — better interference performance on long runs and multi-gigabit over short ones. Where sound Cat5e already exists, we test it and leave it in place rather than selling a rip-out.

Everything back to a patch panel

Runs terminate into a panel in one location, outlets numbered at both ends, so tracing a fault takes a minute rather than an afternoon. Loose cables disappearing into a ceiling void are what makes small-office networks unmaintainable.

Tidy terminations and testing

Punched down properly, pairs kept twisted to the termination, strain relieved, and each link tested for continuity and pairing before we hand it over. Most intermittent office network faults we get called to are a badly terminated cable, not a hardware failure.

Access points on their own runs

Wireless access points want a dedicated cable to the ceiling so they can be powered over ethernet. Cabling is what makes good Wi-Fi possible rather than an alternative to it, so we plan the two together.

Spare capacity while the walls are open

We plan around two points per desk plus dedicated runs for printers, screens and access points, and add a few spares. Adding one run later costs more than adding four during the original installation.

The comms cupboard left usable

Switch patched neatly, cable management in place, ventilation considered, and the layout documented. A cupboard someone else can work in is part of the job, not a bonus.