Future-Proofing Lancashire’s Classrooms: Cat6a & Fibre Overhaul

There’s nothing quite like the smell of a fresh rack install in the morning! We’ve recently been on-site at an education facility in Lancashire, getting stuck into a substantial infrastructure upgrade. In a world where digital learning, 4K streaming, and constant connectivity are the baseline, the “pipes” behind the walls have to be up to the task.

Why Cat6a?

For this project, we opted for Cat6a cabling. While Cat6 is great, Cat6a (Category 6 Augmented) gives the school that extra headroom—supporting speeds of up to 10Gbps at a full 100-meter distance.

In a school setting, you’ve got hundreds of devices hitting the network simultaneously. By installing Cat6a, we’re ensuring that whether it’s an IT suite full of budding developers or a staff room full of hungry laptops, the bandwidth is there to stay.

Here’s a look at the neat Cat6a runs leading into the cabinet:

And another view of the cabinet and some of the overhead cabling:

The Backbone: Fibre Optics

Copper is great for the “edge,” but for the backbone of the building, we’ve been running new fibre optic links. You can see the precision work in our latest splice trays—neat, coiled, and ready for light speed. Fibre is essential for connecting different wings of the building or linking remote data cabinets back to the core, ensuring zero lag across the entire site.

Here’s a close-up of the fibre optic splicing: