Wall Plates Tutorial

Wall plates are not strange to us. As long as there are cable located, there are wall plates. However, these inconspicuous components are not as simple as you think. There are many kinds of them which may put in there to confuse you, especially when you need to choose them for the subscriber termination of your network. This tutorial would give you a comprehensive understanding of wall plates and the related accessories.

Introduction to Wall Plates

Wall plate, also called wallplate or wall plate outlets, is a highly configurable wall plate outlet products, available in single-gang and double-gang configurations. In the past, it is used to connect telephones and other peripherals to a network. But now, it is mainly designed for use within Fiber-To-The-Desk (FTTD) applications since the wide deployment of FTTx.

Wall plates protect electrical outlets and accommodate a variety of cabling solutions such as coaxial, twisted pair, fiber, and HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) cables. Wall plates protect your network by keeping your connections safe from dust, physical damage, and foreign objects.

A variety of fiber and copper adapters may be loaded into the wall plate in any configuration. These adapters may be purchased individually or pre-loaded into the wall plate outlet. The wall plate outlet is also available with angled faces that allow fiber connectors and jumpers (i.e fiber patch cables/cords) to easily transition and exit down the wall. Single-gang wall-plate outlets are available with up to 6-port capacity (4-port angled) while double-gang versions offer 12-port capacity (8-port angled).

Types of Wall Plates

According to different classification criteria, wall plates can be division to different types.

>>According to transmission media of the network, there are mainly two types of wall plates: optical network wall plates, copper network wall plates.

Optical Network Wall Plates
Optical network wall plates, or fiber optic wall plates, are wall plates that designed to bring fiber to the desk and widely used in multi-floor and high building, including bevel fiber optic wall plates with 45° adapter plug-in/out angle and hybrid fiber optic wall plates/outlets. The wall plates are available with LC, SC, ST, FC adapters. They can be applied in FTTH (Fiber to the Home) access, telecommunication, CATV, data communication networks etc.

Copper Network Wall Plates
Copper network wall plates, also called network face plates or network outlet faceplates, can be designed in different varieties for different applications. In addition to your usual 1, 2, and 3 gang duplex receptacles and toggle switch covers, there are also duplex/phone combinations; face plates for VGA, Cat5e, Cat6, S-Video, RCA and BNC connector modules; and red engraved plates for emergency use.

>> According to different applications, there are several types of wall plates shown as following.

Keystone Wall Plates
Keystone wall plates are used in commercial and industrial buildings to cleanly attach telecommunication cables etc. to a junction box, surface mount box, or a mud ring mounted in the drywall of a building. They are made to work with many different types of cabling solutions, including coaxial, twisted pair, HDMI, optical fiber, etc.

Keystone wall plates are made of plastic and have one to twelve ports to accommodate a variety of jacks and connectors for both single and double gang wall boxes. A keystone port is a hole in the wall plate which allows the insertion of a keystone module or other male or female cabling connectors. The most common colors of keystone wall plates are beige and white. Keystone wall plates are commonly made to be compatible with NEMA standard openings and boxes.

Keystone wall plate features anywhere from 1 to 6 small holes for keystone modules, which can be applied to a number of different multimedia applications. A "keystone module", for those who might be unaware, is a small snap-in package featuring a connection port for any number of purposes, including audio, video, data, networking and more. Like most types of outlet plates, these come in multiple different color types to help match in with the surrounding decoration or whatever mood you're in on any given day.

A/V (Audio / Visual) Wall Plates
A/V wall plates are specially designed plates which are perfect for use with corresponding inserts to meet your audio and visual needs. They are ideal for home theater setups or entertainment systems. It eliminates visible holes and allows you to run multiple cables through a single opening.

Telephone Wall Plates
These wall plates are designed to provide an easy connection for telephones. For the under thirty set who are undoubtedly scratching their heads right now, a "phone" used to be something that actually needed to plug into the wall, not just a little computer box that fits in your pocket. These wall plates generally feature a single port, although multiple connections can be used. They are white in color, and are great for providing an easy installation of a phone system within businesses or homes.

Gang Wall Plates
"Gang" in this scenario refers not to a group of thugs, but to gangbox, which is a term in the electrical industry that refers to a box, usually metal, that houses installed electrical components. When it comes to wall plates, a "1 gang" houses a single component, like a switch for example, while a "2 gang" houses two components side by side, and so on in that fashion. Plates that house up to six gangs are available. These plates are designed to be installed over the top of electrical power points, or any other electrical based connection point to help create a flush appearance. They're available in all kinds of set-ups for whatever your electrical needs might be, and you can tell that emo kid up there that they have them in several colors and styles.

Related Accessories

Keystone Module
A keystone module is a standardized snap-in package for mounting a variety of low-voltage electrical jacks or optical connectors into a keystone wall plate, face plate, surface-mount box, or a patch panel. Single to six gang keystone plates that can accomodate one to six modules, as well as keystone inserts that allow you to place voice, data, audio and video ports all in one convenient location. Many options also include separate windows for ID labels, allowing you to mark which types of keystones you're using in each jack.

The keystone modules have a rectangular face of 14.5 mm wide by 16.0 mm high and are held in place with flexible tabs. This allows them to be snapped into a mounting plate with correspondingly-sized rectangular holes, called ports. All keystones, regardless of the type of jack they carry, are interchangeable and replaceable. This provides much flexibility in arranging and mounting many different types of electrical jacks in one plate or panel without requiring customized manufacturing.

Some keystones use a pass-through type connector, where there is a jack on both the front face as well as the rear side. Others only have a jack on the front and employ a different mechanism for hard-wiring signal cables to the rear, such as a mini 110 block, an insulation-displacement connector, or a crimp or solder connection.

AC Power Plugs and Sockets
AC power plugs and sockets are devices that allow electrically operated equipment to be connected to the primary alternating current (AC) power supply in a building. Electrical plugs and sockets differ in voltage and current rating, shape, size and type of connectors. The types used in each country are set by national standards, some of which are listed in the IEC technical report TR 60083, Plugs and socket-outlets for domestic and similar general use standardized in member countries of IEC.

Plugs and sockets for portable appliances started becoming available in the 1880s, to replace connections to light sockets with easier to use wall-mounted outlets. A proliferation of types developed to address the issues of convenience and protection from electric shock. Today there are approximately 20 types in common use around the world, and many obsolete socket types are still found in older buildings. Co-ordination of technical standards has allowed some types of plugs to be used over wide regions to facilitate trade in electrical appliances, and for the convenience of travellers and consumers of imported electrical goods. Some multi-standard sockets allow use of several different types of plugs; improvised or unapproved adapters between incompatible sockets and plugs may not provide the full safety and performance of an approved socket and plug combination.

Wall Plate Solutions in Fiber-Mart

Fiber-Mart offers a variety of wall plates including both fiber optic wall plates for FTTH access and network face plates for copper cabling.

FTTH Fiber and Copper (Cat5e/6) Outlet
FTTH fiber and copper outlet is designed for SC or LC adapters with an RJ45 connection. It has a spring-loaded shutter cover for eye protection and also for the prevention of foreign objects. The lid is secured via a self clipping design, and a fiber storage compartment and integrated heat-shrink splice and mechanical splice holder are featured inside.

FTTH Fiber Optic Wall Plates
FTTH wall plate is available for LC, FC, SC and ST adapters. An embedded section above the adapter entry port allows for clear labeling for ease of identification in a network. These wall plates are made from ABS plastic in white or ivory, with a detachable outer shell. They are supportive of both single mode and multimode networks.

2-Port Duplex LC Fiber Wall Plate Outlet

2-Port FC Fiber Optic Wall Plate Outlet

2-Port SC Fiber Optic Wall Plate Outlet

2-Port ST Fiber Optic Wall Plate Outlet

Note: The wall plates in stock are without adapters.

Network Face Plates
Fiber-Mart supplies a variety of network face plates, such as AMP Face Plate BS Shuttered, 86 type face plate, 118 type face plate. These face plates are available with 1 port, 2 ports, 4 ports, etc.

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