DTECH Articles

30/03/2026

Fibre Optic Cable Construction: Tight Buffered vs Loose Tube

Tight buffered and loose tube are the two fundamental fibre optic cable constructions. Every fibre backbone cable — whether multimode or single mode, internal or external, four fibre or forty-eight...

23/03/2026

Why Copper Clad Data Cable Fails — and Why Pure Copper is the Only Specification Worth Installing

CCA — copper-clad aluminium — is one of the most persistent problems in the structured data cabling industry. It is sold as Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6A cable at prices that...

16/03/2026

Internal vs External Data Cable: What’s the Difference and How to Choose

One of the most common specification errors in structured cabling installations is using standard internal cable on a route that passes outside — through an external wall, across a roof,...

09/03/2026

The Complete Guide to Cat6 Data Cable: Speed, Distance, PoE and When to Upgrade

Cat6 is the current baseline standard for commercial and enterprise network cabling. Introduced in 2002 and formalised under TIA/EIA-568-C.2 and ISO/IEC 11801, it replaced Cat5e as the recommended horizontal cabling...

02/03/2026

OM4 vs OM5 Fibre: What’s the Difference and Which Should You Specify

When OM5 was introduced in 2016 it generated considerable interest — a new multimode fibre grade promising wideband capability, more data over fewer fibres, and a clear upgrade path beyond...

23/02/2026

Why Fibre Optic Prices Have Increased in 2026

If you have priced fibre optic cable in the last six months and been surprised by what you found, you are not alone. From late 2025 into 2026, global fibre...

16/02/2026

What is a Keystone Jack and How Does It Affect Network Performance?

A keystone jack is one of the smallest components in a structured cabling installation and one of the most consequential. It is the modular connector that terminates the permanent horizontal...

09/02/2026

What is a Patch Panel: Why They Matter and How to Choose

A patch panel is one of those components that is easy to overlook when planning a network — it does not switch, route, or process data, and to the uninitiated...