Network cable design and component planning

Before you set up Sophos Switch, we recommend reviewing your existing network hardware and connections, ethernet cable connectivity and characteristics, and best practices for each component in your environment. Failure to follow best practices or use appropriate cables and connections will reduce network performance.

Best practices

It's important to clearly understand ethernet cable design and deployment before setting up Sophos Switch. We recommend the following best practices:

• Familiarize yourself with ethernet cable compliance commercial standards, such as ISO/IEC 11801.
• Use cables with adequate bandwidth support. We recommend cables with an ethernet bandwidth frequency of up to 500 MHz.
• Ensure adequate cable shielding is in place to minimize the impact of alien crosstalk. Alien crosstalk is the coupling of noise from one cable link to another. This happens when many other cables surround one cable in a bundle.
• Use shielded ethernet jacks and patch panels.
• Use conservative ethernet cable lengths that don't exceed the intended network port speeds your installation supports. This is especially important with 2.5 Gbps, 5 Gbps, and 10 Gbps ports.
• Avoid tight bundling of ethernet cables or mixing cables of varying port speeds.
• Avoid putting mechanical strain on RJ45 ports.
• Know the PoE requirements of all devices you plan on connecting. Some devices, such as Sophos AP6 access points, require PoE+ or PoE++, which not all devices and cables can support.

Cabling restrictions

The port speeds you use determine the cable type you need and the maximum length. The following table shows the cabling requirements for each port speed.

More resources

• How to troubleshoot multi-Gbps cabling issues