Commercial copper cabling across Toronto and the GTA. Cat6A, Cat6 and Cat5e, terminated, tested and certified against the TIA limits, with the results handed over as a report rather than a verbal pass.
Cable we install
- Cat6A. 10 Gb to the full 100 metres. The default on new commercial work and the only sensible choice for Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 access points.
- Cat6. 1 Gb everywhere, 10 Gb to around 55 metres. Still fine for desks and phones on a budget build.
- Cat5e. Moves, adds and changes on existing systems. We will install it if you ask, but not for a new build.
- Cat8. Short data centre runs, top of rack to switch, on request.
- Shielded F/UTP and S/FTP where there are drives, motors or heavy electrical noise, bonded and grounded properly at the rack.
- Riser FT4 and plenum FT6 jackets, matched to the space the cable passes through under the Ontario Electrical Safety Code.
- Outdoor, direct burial and armoured for runs between buildings and across yards.
Table 1
| Cat5e | Cat6 | Cat6A | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Gb | 100 m | 100 m | 100 m |
| 2.5 Gb | 100 m | 100 m | 100 m |
| 5 Gb | Not guaranteed | 100 m | 100 m |
| 10 Gb | No | About 55 m | 100 m |
| Bandwidth | 100 MHz | 250 MHz | 500 MHz |
| Best for | Changes to existing runs | Desks and phones | New builds, access points, PoE |
What the work covers
- Horizontal runs from the closet to every outlet, in tray, conduit or on J hooks.
- Racks and cabinets. Floor, wall mount and open frame, with patch panels, cable management and power.
- Outlets. Faceplates, keystones, surface boxes, floor boxes and poke-throughs.
- Pathways. Tray, conduit, sleeves, core drilling and firestop at every penetration we open.
- Patch cords made to length so the rack does not turn into a nest.
- Labelling to TIA-606 on both ends, the panel and the outlet, with as-built drawings.
- Closet build-outs. Grounding and bonding, UPS, and space planned for the switches you will buy next.
- Removal of abandoned cable, which the code expects and most sites have never done.
What we cable
- Workstations, desk phones and meeting rooms
- Wireless access points, including the 2.5 Gb and 5 Gb uplinks that need Cat6A
- IP cameras, NVRs and intercoms
- Access control panels, readers and door hardware
- Printers, kiosks, POS terminals and time clocks
- Warehouse scanners, scales, label printers and charging bays
- Building automation, HVAC controls and BMS panels
- Digital signage and AV
Testing and certification
- Every drop certified, not just continuity checked. Permanent link testing with a certifier, against the TIA limits for the category installed.
- What gets measured. Wire map, length, insertion loss, NEXT and PS-NEXT, return loss, ACR-F and delay skew.
- PoE checks on runs feeding cameras, access points and door hardware.
- Results as a PDF plus the native test files, with every drop named to match the labels.
- Manufacturer warranty. If you need the system warrantied by the component manufacturer, say so before we order, because it changes which parts go in.
Where copper stops
A copper run is 90 metres of permanent link plus 10 metres of patch cords. That is the whole budget and it does not stretch. Past it the link either will not come up or it errors under load, which is worse, because it looks like a software problem for weeks.
Long runs, links between buildings and anything near heavy electrical noise go on fiber instead. Most buildings we work in use both: fiber for the backbone between closets, copper from the closet to the device.
Where we work
Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill, Oakville, Burlington, Hamilton, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Milton and across Southern Ontario.