Industry Comment Wires today,gone tomorrow?
As the world goes wireless, Indi Sall, Technical Director of NG Bailey’s IT Services division asks if the days of the wired network are numbered.
C
ompared to a few years ago, plugging things in has started to feel like a major hassle.
The wireless smart hub has become the
centre of the digital home, connecting smart TVs, wireless speakers, wireless printers, lighting, power and heating controls, and providing a platform for voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa. This wireless environment is also becoming increasingly visible in the corporate world, with networks now supporting all of the above in addition to applications such as united communications and wireless conferencing solutions. Wireless networks have had such a positive
impact on the user’s digital experience that it is now impossible to imagine life without them. Does this mean that the time has come to abandon wires altogether? In terms of throughput speed and continuity
– two of the pillars by which today’s corporate networks are judged – the answer should be a plain ‘no’. Here, the wired world still reigns supreme. When considering flexibility, however, cables don’t just falter, they fall by the wayside completely. Have you ever seen anyone plug a cable into their smartphone so they could get faster Internet? Me either. The proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to an increase in network connected devices. As sensors gradually appear in everything, from the clothes we wear to the chairs we sit on, our already-substantial reliance on wireless data is about to spike. There really is no going back. Couple IoT with today’s increasing business
appetites for cloud services and workforce mobility, then combine it with end-users’ insatiable consumption of streamed and social
22 | electrical wholesalerApril 2019
media, and it’s easy to see the growth in wireless connectivity and the need for investment in the latest wireless technologies in order to cope with demand. Over the next three years, these forces will
drive a huge upswing in demand for technologies that can optimise wireless infrastructure performance. Many owners of tenanted and high-occupancy buildings, in particular, are having to completely rethink their entire approach to ensure their estate offers state of the art digital connectivity. As the wireless radio spectrum becomes
increasingly crowded, new technologies such as Li-Fi will enable new forms of data connectivity using LED light rather than radio waves, offering the potential to support even faster data speeds and capacity to support the huge expansion in the number of IoT devices, whilst providing energy efficient lighting at the same time. Wireless gets all the attention. And with all these dazzling advances, should we still care about cables? As end-users, probably not. As guardians of the large buildings and shared spaces in tomorrow’s smart cities, however, the answer has to be ‘yes’. This is because behind every headline-
grabbing wireless solution is an unseen and indispensable structured cable network. These cables might pick up wireless data from miles away (with operator 3G or 4G services, for
example). They might also take on your data from right beneath your feet or a few inches above your head. Either way, it takes a tremendous amount of hard cabling to backhaul today’s wireless data – something that isn’t going to change any time soon. This is something that we must not forget. As
the networks in our buildings undergo their inevitable digital upgrade, it will pay to remember that not every cabling solution is made equal. The quality of the back-end design will determine whether future wireless technologies can be integrated and how easily they can be supported. As everyday end-users of wireless
technologies we can expect the gradual separation from the cabled world to continue. As this happens, however, maintaining an appreciation for the vital role that cabling plays in enabling today’s slick user experience couldn’t be more important. Although the number of traditional data points will fall, with a huge expansion in connected devices, the infrastructure within modern digital buildings will need to be based on the latest cable standards supporting 10GB over copper and 100Gb over fibre.
Now is the time when the back-end is being
overhauled, and it is this work that will truly make or break the future of our digital world.
ngbailey.com
Many owners of tenanted and high-occupancy buildings, in particular, are having to completely
rethink their entire approach to ensure their estate offers state of the art digital connectivity.
ewnews.co.uk
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