A User’s Guide to Buying Patch Panels

For installing network cables at a workplace, one must be fully acquainted with what he needs and why. Setting up LAN cables isn’t an easy job, it takes a lot of effort, money and most importantly your time. This is why you must have some knowledge about these things beforehand to make the right choice.

In case, you have been around or using ethernet cables for a while, you probably are aware of the cables that are popularly installed these days like cat 6, category 6a cable, category 7, and more. But what you might not know is that some other additional equipment also needs equal consideration.

Out of which, a patch panel is the most crucial one. Do you know what is a patch panel and what does it do? If you don’t, here is a complete guide to patch panels that will further help you while purchasing it.

Definition of Patch Panel

A patch panel is a device that is placed at a facility that uses network cables. Its role is to accommodate and properly manage the cables. As far as the structure of a patch panel is concerned, it is box-like equipment with several ports on it from where the incoming and outgoing of the cables are managed.

Those of you who are going to purchase patch panels must be familiar with the new and advanced patch panels such as an ezi-PANEL Cassette. At any ideal cabling set up, patch panels are placed in a wiring closet. It is also known as patch bay and patch field.

Having patch panels is almost compulsory for various industries as it allows an individual to keep their server room well organized which makes changing or transporting of network cable much easier. Besides, it provides certain flexibility to the existing ethernet cables as well. It is available in different designs and configurations. Some of these patch panels are standard fiber optic patch panels, modular patch panels, and network patch panel.

Advantages of Installing Patch Panels

There are many benefits of using patch panels for your network connections, some of which are as follows:

• Patch panels protect your network from electrical jamming.
• It prevents packet collision which occurs when two devices in the same ethernet network try to transmit data.
• Only when you have patch panels, you can access multiple network cables to a single computer.

When Buying Patch Panels

Shopping for patch panels can be pretty tricky. You must be clear on what to consider before making a pick. The market is full of patch panels that differ from one another in shapes, designs, number of ports, etc.

To buy the right patch panel, based on whether you want it for personal use or your office decide what type you require. The next thing to do is check how many ports you need for the cables. After this, you can turn your focus to other things such as getting rack-mounted or wall-mounted patch panels.

Conclusion

Just like your other cabling tools like multimedia outlets or handheld optical power meters, patch panels are also an essential part of the entire cabling network. You can shop for all these equipment online at Dintek.