Cabling Tips

April 27th, 2010

According to LAN Magazine, “85-95% of network failures are due in large part to cabling problems.”
As speeds and bandwidth increase, slight errors in installation CAN make the system non-compliant and MAY make a network useless so consider the following list of cabling tips:

  • Don’t remove more of the outer jacket then is necessary to terminate.
  • When terminating, don’t untwist conductors more then 1/2″ for CAT5e or higher cables.
  • Don’t Run Next to Electricity:
    • Avoid electrical cabling and electrical sources.
    • Don’t tie cables to electrical conduits.
    • Don’t run communication cabling within 2 ft of electrical.
    • Always cross electrical at right angles.
  • Protect Cabling:
    • Avoid sharp edges when pulling.
    • Use grommets to protect the cable when passing through rough openings.
    • Use low pulling force (25lbf or less), if using a pull string use one rated at 200lbf.
    • Make gradual bends when necessary (1″ radius min, 2″ recommended).
    • Don’t over tighten tie wraps.
    • Avoid using staples. If you must, use staples rated for use with communications cables (i.e T59).
  • Use one wiring scheme – 568A (preferred).
  • Always run all cables in a STAR topology.
  • Limit runs to 295 ft (90 meters).
  • Properly label all cables.
  • Always use proper testing.
  • Leave slack at the both the outlet (8″ min) and patch panel (10ft).
  • Pull longest runs first working towards your shortest runs to reduce waste to
    an average of 15%
    .

NEW HDMI over Single CAT5e Extender (H5EA)

April 5th, 2010

This HDMI 1.3 over Single CAT5e Extender increases your video/audio transmission distance up to 200ft (60m) in HDTV 1080i format, 130ft (40m) in HDTV 1080p format, and 65ft (20m) in HDTV 1080p with 36 bit color depth. With only one LAN cable the user can readily extend HDTV signal from an HDMI source to a distant display monitor including HDMI/DVI enabled TV sets or LCD PC monitors. Deep color video, DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD audio, and HDCP supports and compatibility are all delivered with the H5EA. It includes two units, a transmitter and receiver unit. The transmitter unit captures the incoming HDMI/DVI signal and carries it through one CAT5e/6 cable to the receiver unit where is then outputted via HDMI to whatever device is on the other end.

- Spec Sheet
- Online Product Info

March 2010 Suttle Monthly Update

March 23rd, 2010

Link to online version of March 2010 Newsletter

Announcements
- suttleSOHO.com is Now suttleonline.com
- Suttle First to Offer Plastic Optical Fiber “Jack”
- Suttle is Now a Member of the MoCA Alliance

Featured Products
- HDMI over Single CAT5e Extender
- HomePNA™ Coax Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

Training Tip
- How to Maximize Outside your Service Areas and Maintain Quality

Suttle Survey
- Is leveraging the existing home wiring important to your strategies for rolling out next-gen services?

Future Events
- Texas Communications Expo: Belton, TX (4/6/10 – 4/8/10)
- Broadband Properties Summit: Dallas, TX (4/26/10 – 4/28/10) Booth# 405

How to Maximize Outside your Service Areas and Maintain Quality

March 23rd, 2010

One technique of extending broadband access to end users located beyond the serving radius is to use pair bonding. With pair bonding, the broadband access service is deployed using two DSL access lines where the sum of the bit rates from each line are used to provide the objective distance needed for access area. Alternatively, pair bonding can be used to increase the bit rate available to the customer for enhanced service quality.

Suttle First to Offer Plastic Optical Fiber “Jack”

March 19th, 2010

Firecomms, a leading developer of highspeed Plastic Optical Fiber (POF) transceivers, announces that it has licensed its OptoLock® interconnect system to Suttle, Inc., a leading supplier of communication connectivity products for the telecom and datacom industries worldwide. OptoLock, an easy-to-use, low-cost housing for instant termination of bare Plastic Optical Fiber (POF), provides plugless terminations that allow for simpler, quicker connections of communications and infotainment network devices.

“Suttle is excited to offer the first commercially available POF to POF passive OptoLock wall plate adapter system, which we’ve added to our SpeedStar line of modular connectivity,” says Bill Heuer, senior product manager. “Firecomms has pioneered the development of POF as a low-cost alternative for copper cabling in home networking, which we look forward to support.”

“With the rapid adoption of OptoLock by an increasing number of equipment providers, we are pleased to license our technology to Suttle, Inc., a well established telecom vendor that has been supplying communication equipment to companies worldwide since 1910,” says Lawrence Thorne, Firecomms’ vice president of sales and marketing, the Americas. “Suttle, like all suppliers of OptoLock products, will manufacture its product based on a common mechanical specification for the fiber interface.”

Suttle’s new SpeedStar OptoLock wall plate adapter system will be available in Q2 2010. Due to its ease of use, large core tolerances, and low costs, POF is enjoying substantial growth in home network and point-to-point interconnection. The annual worldwide POF market is estimated to be worth over $2.5 billion” in 2011, according to market research by Information Gatekeepers.

suttleSOHO.com is Now suttleonline.com

March 16th, 2010

Since we updated our flagship website last Fall, we have been migrating content from our sub-branded site suttleSOHO.com which featured our SOHO Access™ product line. We’re proud to announce that this transition is now complete and all of our SOHO Access™ content is entirely available under our suttleonline.com master site.

NEW HomePNA Coax Gigabit Ethernet Adapter (CES-2CUA)

March 15th, 2010

Suttle’s HPNA 3.1 Coax Ethernet Adapter enables you to set up a home network with your existing coaxial cable. No additional wiring or setup is necessary. Simply connect the home’s gateway device to an adapter and plug it into any coax connector, and any coax port on the network can be fed both RF or IP video and high speed data. The adapter does include intelligence to support various services, including VLAN tagging, queuing scheme, and bandwidth control.

- Spec Sheet
- Online Product Info

Suttle is Now a Member of the MoCA® Alliance

March 5th, 2010

The Multimedia over Coax Alliance (MoCA®) is an industry driven group promoting distribution of digital video and data over existing coaxial cable in a home. Suttle has joined this group to help us develop products that leverage the homes existing infrastructure to extend high-speed communication.

February 2010 Suttle Monthly Update

February 22nd, 2010

Link to online version of February 2010 Newsletter

Announcements
- FREE Video Tool Program

Featured Products
- SpeedStar™ HDMI™ Connector
- VDSL Splitter Module

Training Tip
- HDMI™ Cabling Application Notes

Suttle Survey
- What does HDMI 1.4 NOT include?

Future Events
- MTA 2010: Minneapolis, MN (3/1/10 – 3/3/10)
- ITA Showcase: Portland, OR (3/2/10 – 3/3/10)
- NCTIA 2010 Tech Showcase: Winston-Salem, NC (3/3/10 – 3/4/10)
- RIITA Conf & Expo: Des Moines, IA (3/9/10 – 3/11/10) Booth# 201

HDMI™ Cabling Application Notes

February 22nd, 2010

The HDMI Specifications do not specify cable lengths. However, for long cable runs the following is recommended:
If you need to send a 1080p signal more than 25feet, or a 1080i signal more than 49 feet, active electronics will help clean up and boost an HDMI signal when it’s traveling long distances. You can purchase either a stand-alone booster or an active cable, where the circuitry is embedded in the connectors themselves. In both cases, the connection requires a power source.

HDMI over CAT5e/6:
Runs of up to 50 meters can be achieved by sending the HDMI signal over a run of CAT5e/6 networking cable, using special adapters designed for this purpose. These products incorporate booster and equalization electronics at each end of the path and require external power. Because of its tighter manufacturing tolerances, CAT6 cable is generally preferred over CAT5 in these applications. Stay tuned in March 2010 for more information about Suttle HDMI over CAT5e/6 products.

For more info on HDMI see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI