Structured network cabling in the Netherlands
In short. Structured cabling is the fixed wiring of your building:
a cable from every workstation, camera, access point and door controller back to a central
cabinet. We pull it, terminate it, measure it and hand it over with a report that says each
link passes.
Cat6, Cat6a or fibre
For most offices Cat6 is still the sensible choice and will carry 1 Gbit comfortably over
the full distance. Cat6a is worth the extra where you want 10 Gbit over longer runs, or where
you are feeding devices that draw a lot of power over the same cable — the thicker
construction dissipates heat better in a full bundle. Fibre goes between cabinets and between
buildings, where copper simply cannot reach.
One number matters more than the category: 90 metres for the fixed run,
100 metres once the patch cords at both ends are counted. Specifications from
the American market often say 300 feet, which is 91.5 metres and not the same thing. If your
drawing was made abroad, we check this before ordering.
Existing cabling can often carry more than you think
If your building already has Cat5e or Cat6 in the walls, do not assume it has to be
replaced. The 2.5 and 5 Gbit standards were designed precisely to run over cabling that was
installed for 1 Gbit. Whether yours will do it depends on the length, the quality of the
terminations and how it was routed. That is a measurement, not a guess, and it is far cheaper
than pulling new cable through an occupied building.
What the measurement report tells you
We test every link with a Fluke tester and hand over the results. The report shows the
length of each run, how much signal is lost along it, how much the pairs interfere with each
other, and the resistance — that last one matters if the cable also has to carry power.
It says pass or fail per link, with the margin. A cable that passes by a hair today will fail
when the building warms up in summer, so the margin is the interesting part.
This is the document you keep. When something goes wrong in three years, it tells you
whether the cabling was ever right, and that usually settles the discussion in one minute.
What it costs to get wrong
The two failures we see most often are a cable that was never tested and a cabinet nobody
labelled. Neither is visible on the day of handover. Both surface at the worst possible
moment, usually when someone needs to trace a fault under time pressure. Testing and labelling
add very little to a project and remove most of the risk from the next five years.
Working in an occupied building
Most of our work happens in buildings that are in use. That means evenings and weekends
where it is needed, dust control, and routes agreed in advance with the building manager.
Dutch building regulations require fire-rated sealing where cabling passes through a fire
compartment; we do that as part of the job and document it, because a building inspector will
ask.
Working with us as an international client
We work for companies that have their Dutch operation here but their head office
somewhere else. That brings a few practical things with it, and we are used to all of them.
Our engineers speak English on site, not just over email. We can work to a specification
written abroad and tell you where it does not match Dutch practice before we start rather
than after. And we deliver documentation you can hand to a landlord, an auditor or a head
office without translating it first.
One thing worth knowing if you are used to other markets: in the Netherlands the
permanent cabling run is limited to 90 metres, with 100 metres allowed once patch cords at
both ends are included. Specifications written for the American market often quote 300 feet,
which is not the same number. We check that before anything is ordered.
What determines the cost
We do not quote a price without having seen the situation, because without that we would
either overcharge you or promise something we cannot deliver. What we can tell you is what
drives the number: the number of outlets, the distance from each outlet to the cabinet,
whether existing routes can be reused or new ones have to be made, whether the ceiling is
accessible, whether power over the data cable is needed, and whether the building is in use
while we work. That last one is often the biggest single factor.
Talk to an engineer, not a call centre
Call 036 52 98 447 or send us a message and one of our own engineers
will get back to you. We are based in Almere and work across the Netherlands. Everything is
done by our own people; we do not subcontract the work and disappear.
