Cat 6 or Cat 6A for a new office?

Cat 6 handles most office needs today. Cat 6A supports higher speeds over the full channel length and better handles the power-over-ethernet loads that wireless access points, cameras and some lighting now draw. For a fit-out expected to last a lease term of several years, Cat 6A for backbone and high-demand points is the safer choice; the cable is the part that is expensive to replace later.

Why does cabling need to be certified?

Because a cable that connects is not the same as a cable that performs. Certification tests each link against the standard for its category — and a link that fails certification will cause intermittent faults that are extremely hard to diagnose later. Certification results should be part of the handover documentation.

How many data points should we plan per desk?

Most offices plan at least two per workstation, plus points for printers, meeting room displays, wireless access points and security devices. The expensive mistake is planning exactly to the current headcount — adding a point later means a new cable run back to the rack through a finished ceiling.

Structured Cabling Contractors for Offices

What we deliver

Structured cabling, network racks, patch panels, data outlets and containment — laid out against the desk plan, installed with the fit-out, and tested before handover.

Network cabling is the one piece of an office's IT that lives inside the building. Equipment gets replaced every few years; the cable in the ceiling is expected to last the fit-out. Getting its quantity, category and routes right is far cheaper at installation than at any point after.

Scope of works

Stage	What we deliver
Planning	Points per desk, AP and device locations, rack position
Containment	Trays and conduits sized for growth
Backbone	Rack-to-rack and riser links
Horizontal	Rack to outlet cabling
Termination	Patch panels, outlets, labelling
Rack	Rack installation, cable management, power
Testing	Link certification, labelled test results
Handover	Cabling schedule and certification records

Where projects go wrong

Points planned exactly to today's headcount. Every addition later is a new run through a finished ceiling.
No certification. Intermittent faults that are close to impossible to trace afterwards.
Data sharing containment with power. Interference and confusion at every future change.
Rack room without ventilation or power planning. Heat shortens equipment life.
No labelling. The next person to touch the network spends hours tracing cables.

Why Hagerstone

Networking is part of our stated MEP scope, laid out from the same drawing as the desk plan and the small power — so outlets land where the desks are.

In-house technicians and electricians, under ISO 9001 / 14001 / 45001 and 79+ quality checkpoints.

Standards referenced

Generic cabling for customer premises to ISO/IEC 11801. Commercial building telecommunications cabling to TIA-568.

Networking & Structured Cabling

What we deliver

Scope of works

Where projects go wrong

Why Hagerstone

Standards referenced

Standards referenced

Frequently asked

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