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Fibre cable minimises risk of lightning damage

When installing a cabling infrastructure, the cheapest solution is almost always a copper solution. This is often the easiest for an installer to quote on but the most difficult installation to maintain.

Besides copper being cheaper than fibre on the original installation costs, copper cabling is very susceptible to lightning and earth potential difference especially when video and data cables are run outdoors.

This vulnerability could result in damage or unreliable video and data transmission equipment as found on any CCTV and access control system. For this reason the customer should be made aware that the copper cabling solution may require lightning and surge protection devices on the data, video and power inputs/outputs of any sensitive or vulnerable equipment. This will all add to the total cost of installation and maintenance of the system.

The other option would be fibre. This at first might appear costly but consider the benefits of fibre which include reliability, increased bandwidth, less attention and the fact that it is unaffected by lightning, earth potential differences and electrical noise.

These benefits when viewed in terms of a maintenance contract must surely hold value for both the installer and the customer.

The relevant fibre converters for RS485, RS422, video transmitter and video receiver have generally come down in price and so has fibre cable and termination costs. It is time that customers and installers seriously consider the long-term benefits fibre has to offer.

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