Expand Your Network with Extended Reach: Going Beyond 100 Meters
As the number of network-connected devices grows in smart environments, they demand power and data connectivity. These connections must happen without consuming too much valuable space. Square footage must be utilized as efficiently as possible to reduce operational costs and support sustainability efforts.
Today’s device connections also look different than they did in the past. They’re happening in remote locations that are farther from telecommunications rooms. Sometimes, this means a cable must extend beyond its “normal” 100 m to establish a connection. Consider:
- Installing a smart surveillance camera in a parking lot
- Deploying an access control panel at an entrance at the far end of a warehouse
- Placing wireless access points in an outdoor patio or pool area
- Locating PoE LED lighting fixtures in the middle of an expansive open office space
- Mounting a sensor to a fan on the roof
In the early days of Ethernet, as networking standards were being developed decades ago, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) recommended that twisted-pair Category cabling be limited to distances of 100 m in ANSI/TIA-568.
Based on technical standards and specifications, this distance limit was established to ensure interoperability. In other words, ANSI/TIA-568 makes it possible for you to install a surveillance camera from one manufacturer, a wireless access point from another manufacturer and cabling and connectivity from a third manufacturer with confidence that everything will work together. But ANSI/TIA-568 doesn’t take into consideration how different applications use the cabling or connect to an Ethernet network.
Despite technology advancements, the 100 m distance limit remains in place to prevent confusion and support backward compatibility. But it restricts where and how devices can be deployed, making some of the examples above impossible without taking one of these steps:
- Adding a new telecommunications room
- Using fiber or hybrid cables instead of copper
- Adding a new hub or switch
- Taking a risk and extending the link beyond 100 m
How application-based cables support extended reach
There’s now another viable option to consider when Category cabling falls short: Application-based cables that support extended reach.
Achieving links beyond 100 m is possible for some data speeds. Why? Because the 100 m distance limit isn’t required to meet defined link segments established by IEEE. Instead, IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standards only require that cabling meets link segment requirements.
This means an application-based cable that supports extended reach is the perfect solution when Category cable can’t go the distance. It’s a cable designed to support applications like IP cameras, building sensors and PoE LED lighting fixtures far from the telecommunications room (TR).
An application-based cable isn’t a replacement for a Category cable. It’s another tool that can help you save time, reduce costs and make technology design and deployment easier by enabling extended reach when needed.
Engineered to align with IEEE application standard transmission speeds ranging from 10BASE-T to 1000BASE-T, application-based cables support long-distance runs beyond the 100 m outlined in ANSI/TIA-568.
An added benefit: significant space savings
Application-based cables can also provide the space savings that smart environments so desperately need while accommodating extended reach systems. As the length of a channel increases beyond 100 m, space requirements go down when using application-based cables. Here’s why.
In a channel length of 100 m, when you discount the 10 m reserved for patch cords, plus the additional 20 m for cable runs going up and down, you’re left with 70 m of cable to work with.
In a channel length of 215 m (which RemoteIP Cable from Belden can support), when you discount the 10 m reserved for patch cords, plus the additional 20 m for cable runs going up and down, you’re left with 185 m of cable to work with. And you don’t have to worry about making a TR available every 100 m.
This translates to a space-utilization improvement of nearly 700%: only one-seventh the number of TRs are needed. In theory, in a 100-square-foot space, this decreases the number of TRs needed from 7 to 1.2 in a best-case scenario. While this is a theoretical limit that doesn’t always translate to a direct ratio that works in real life every time, it still proves that the number of TRs can be reduced.
This reduction translates to benefits like:
- Lower construction and maintenance costs
- More efficient use of space
- Less energy consumption
- Simplified network layouts
- Fewer points of failure
Meet RemoteIP, our extended reach cable
RemoteIP is Belden’s application-based extended reach cable. In addition to increasing maximum channel length from 100 m to 215 m, it covers Power over Ethernet (PoE) Types 1 through 4. It can support any low-bandwidth device that requires up to 100W and an extended reach of more than 100 m.
By removing the cable’s filler and decreasing its diameter, we were able to help you further optimize space. This makes RemoteIP even more cost effective (it takes up less room) and simpler to deploy. It terminates like a Category cable and is compatible with Belden’s REVConnect® connectivity.
If you need to extend your Ethernet channel beyond 100 m without worrying about performance degradation, then RemoteIP Cables will help you do it as part of a complete connection solution. They’re specifically designed to meet or exceed IEEE application standards limits.
Learn about our RemoteIP Cables.
Learn more
About the Author
Ike Sachse joined Belden in 2022, working in Chicago alongside one of Belden’s Customer Innovation Centers. As a solution consultant, he partners with customers, contractors, consultants and other professionals—asking them the right questions to better understand their needs and align Belden’s solutions with their business objectives. Before joining Belden, Ike studied electrical engineering at Iowa State University. He’s also working toward his Fundamentals of Engineering Certification.