Is Structured Cabling Essential?

In a word: yes!

What exactly is structured Cabling?

Structured cabling (also called structured wiring) is the term which refers to all the wires, cabling as well as electronic components that are installed within a particular area in a structured fashion. Big locations such as Miami, structured cabling is the method all new building is built, and it is actually fast becoming the norm within smaller sized towns as well.

All types of electronic equipment utilizes structured cabling. If you’re building new construction, it’s best to install all your structured wiring before the drywall goes up as it is much cheaper than retrofitting it at a later date. There are all sorts of electronic systems that need to use structured cabling in the home or office. These include telephone systems, fax machines, dvd players, home theater systems, surround sound, security system, lighting, internet access, computers, etc… any many more. If you have a wiring system in place to meet these specific needs, you will just be able to plug in your fax machine, surround sound speakers and be done with it. Talk about convenient! As technology changes, your structured wiring will be able to adjust with the times- better than standard wiring would be.

There are many reasons to get structured cabling installed. For starters you can use the same cabling for all your electronic systems. There is no reason you have to figure out how to install phone cabling, ethernet cabling or ISDN cabling. Having structured cabling installed eliminates the need for having to spend hours trying (and sometimes failing) installing a complicated phone system yourself. Plus, once you get the wiring and your system up and running, the last thing you want to do is start all over again of you ever need to change it, add a line or two, or if you buy a whole new system. Structured cabling makes life easier. The same goes for situations when you need to add or remove a computer, add a modem, new fancy TV, or link up one printer to more than one PC.

Another important thing to remember, when you have structured cabling, when one system fails, your whole network most likely won’t fail. The problem will be isolated, keeping the rest of your system operational and then the problem will be easy to locate and fixed.

If you ever want to sell your home, your resale value will be a lot higher if you have structured wiring in your home. This is because as newer technologies are released, your home will be ready. Would you want to buy a home today that has wiring from 30 years ago? Imagine how hard and annoying it would be to install WiFi. Now imagine what sorts of technology will be available and commonly used in homes 30 years from now. With structured cabling, your home will be ready for the future!