By Steve Panosian
Journeying back into ancient history, circa late-1970s, I fondly remember making a few extra bucks assisting clients of mine who purchased high-fidelity gear and asked if I could help them set up their new system. Tonearms needed to be mounted and calibrated, phono cartridges had to be installed and aligned. And then there were the cables. Tons and tons of copper cables. Speakers had to be wired correctly to avoid phase issues and RCA cable connectors had to go Left and Right between the various components.
Over time, S-Video connectors entered the market as our audio systems integrated with TVs. Fast forward to today and terms like HDMI have entered the lexicon of home entertainment. These changes over time have occurred because some engineer came up with a better (faster) way to connect devices and provide greater fidelity (data transfer) in order to render today’s beautiful images that we see on our TVs and glorious audio that elevates any entertainment experience.
And if you throw home computers into the conversation, the quality of graphics, video streaming and the computational power of AI will require homes to have the very highest data transfer speeds available with giga-tons of capability. The world is getting faster!
Will we ever get to a point where enough is enough as far as high-speed whole-house cabling? We better, with AI-assisted 3-D goggles and holography right around the corner! That’s why it is critical for consumers to understand that laying the groundwork for your whole-house wiring infrastructure needs some forethought. You see, we just don’t know what products we’ll be watching movies on in 10 years. But I guarantee you that the basic wiring you install into your home today will have to be lightning fast in order to process the terabytes of data that will be streaming into our living rooms. Enter Cleerline.
Cleerline, based in Missoula, Montana, has a rich history in the cable and structured wiring industry. They’ve been there, seen it, done that, and have moved into the new frontier of high-speed cable infrastructure. They offer a complete portfolio of fiber optical cable technology for high performance residential projects, telecommunications, data centers, commercial enterprise networking, and optical network deployments. Cleerline’s product line is specifically designed to deliver unparalleled performance at a fraction of the cost of copper-based cable connectivity solutions. Copper is in all aspects on its last legs as a communication medium.
“Architects and designers need to understand that the infrastructure backbone of any structure needs to be as robust and future proof as possible, and fiber has clear advantages that includes cost and future application benefits.”
Ryan Prentice
I recently sat down with Ryan Prentice, President of Cleerline Technology Group, to talk about the company’s vision for its applications centered on fiber technology.
Steve: Hello Ryan, tell us about Cleerline’s evolution.
Ryan: Cleerline Technology Group is an affiliate of D’Addario & Co. Over the last 40 years, D’Addario has established itself as one of the world’s largest musical accessories companies, including a full line of pro audio items and high-quality audio/video cabling.
In 2004, Robert D’Addario, leveraging his background in electrical engineering and networking, began to explore how D’Addario & Co. could expand their innovative Planet Waves CableStation™ coaxial cabling system to address the demands of system integrators. This led to the launch of Planet Waves Custom Installation at the 2005 CEDIA Expo, where the company established itself and grew to be a leader in connectivity solutions for residential technology design firms. The product mix evolved to include groundbreaking coax solutions built upon the original CableStation product, HDMI solutions, and speaker connectors. These parts and components were all built with the goal of making the installer’s job easier, more efficient and more reliable.
In 2009, Planet Waves established a strategic relationship with Custom Install Supply headquartered in Missoula, Montana. The two principals, myself and Rick Sant, came from a long line of successful integration companies in the Pacific Northwest. During our years in the installation business, we were determined to ensure that five-dollar parts would not hold up six-figure projects. Utilizing our industry experience as a cornerstone, we built a distribution business called Custom Install Supply. For Planet Waves, a partnership with Custom Install Supply provided critical new insights into the on-the-ground needs of integrators and gave rise to Planet Waves Custom Install Supply (PWCIS).
As the demand for residential and commercial connectivity exploded in the 2010s, coaxial cable faded as the go-to solution for integrators with HDMI and category cable (copper) replacing component video and digital audio connections. Robert D’Addario started to explore fiber optics as the logical next infrastructure solution as bandwidth requirements began to exploit the limitations of copper-based networks. Robert, Rick and I sought to create a fiber solution that was highly durable and easy to terminate in the field, creating an integrator-centric product line that has revolutionized fiber deployment for A/V pros. Based in Montana, the Cleerline Technology Group was founded in 2012.
It was clear to us that fiber optic cabling presented challenges to the coming wave of system integrators and installers. Residential installers did not have the time to get up to speed on fiber optics, and some were intimidated by the process of terminating fiber in the field. Our goal was to overcome these objections. It was also clear that the required bandwidth for a home network would only increase in the coming years. Fiber was the future of connectivity, so we sought to provide the solution by creating a fiber solution that could be pulled and handled like category cable and be as easy (if not easier) to terminate compared to Cat5 or Cat6 RJ45 connections. The result is Cleerline Technology Group’s SSF™ product.
Today, Cleerline SSF fiber optic cabling and components provide simple, end-to-end solutions for residential and commercial installations. Whether installations are in commercial environments or a residential dwelling, Cleerline has the fiber optic components and training to make every integrator an expert for easy deployment. From unique fiber optic cable to connectors, termination tools, enclosures and more, Cleerline is Fiber Optics Redefined.
Steve: What were your requirements for making fiber a sensible choice for system integration businesses?
Ryan: There were several critical considerations that we addressed before launching our fiber solutions. We make our product extremely bendable and more resilient than copper cable. That is a huge benefit to the installer both during installation and for longevity in the field. The second issue was safety, because legacy glass fiber products could be dangerous to handle. Our design has a unique coating that is bonded to our glass as opposed to the jacket, so it is much safer for the installer. And finally, we designed a faster and easier way to terminate the end point connectors. Cleerline fiber takes 30 to 45 seconds to terminate the connector to the exact length needed, compared to other fiber product termination that can take significantly longer. Additionally, terminating our fiber cable design is many times faster than terminating copper category cabling.
Steve: Talk about costs, fiber versus copper.
Ryan: The cost of our fiber is very attractive because our design makes it easier and faster to install, so there is a considerable cost savings there. Earlier fiber designs required highly trained specialists with sophisticated installation tools that factored into the pricing. Cleerline fiber is more resilient and dependable for the applications we support, and it is this cost driver that makes us more competitive versus copper and earlier fiber solutions.
For clients or projects not yet ready for fiber, we often recommend running our product along with the category cabling during the prewire step, because the cost is negligible and makes future upgrades to fiber much less costly.
Training is very important, and we offer the Cleerline SSF Training Academy that supports system integrators, low voltage contractors, electricians, specifiers and end users in the design and installation of their own fiber-based systems.
Steve: What advantages does Cleerline fiber cabling offer as a network backbone when comparing it with copper category cabling, besides cost?
Ryan: There are many advantages when you consider the size of a network. Residential, commercial, multi-site location networks, data traffic requirements, speed demand, electromechanical interference, and signal latency issues each by themselves will impact a network’s quality of service and robustness. Fiber cabling is as fast as light, there is no signal loss or conflicts with electrical power that cause interferences.
The number of devices in a typical residential network is constantly increasing. A typical residential or office space may need to accommodate 20-30 devices or more. Larger living spaces and commercial requirements will require a tremendous amount of bandwidth to accommodate many connected devices. This comes back to the question about the network backbone where copper cabling has its bandwidth restrictions, but a fiber infrastructure does not.
When the networking architecture requires switches, multiple access points, and ethernet connections, there are also latency issues, glitches, all the things that impact networking when data demand is high. A fiber network infrastructure operates more reliably, free from these challenges.
Multiple users, large files and streaming content puts increased demand on the network which is why we recommend fiber as the only option. There simply is no other choice for bandwidth, speed and reliability to accommodate demand today and well into the future.
Steve: So, if a fiber service is delivered to a home or business, what is the problem with copper category cabling as the backbone inside these spaces?
Ryan: Eliminating fiber would be analogous to delivering water via a fire hose and then distributing it within the project via a drinking straw. The paradigm is no different for installing electrical or plumbing.
Steve: Do you see a day when consumer products like TVs and computers are featured with a fiber connection port?
Ryan: The challenge with TVs and computers is material costs. There are millions of TVs and computers sold and adding cost is most challenging.
However, there are high performance video displays and high-end A/V over IP products (Audio-Visual over Internet Protocol) that feature fiber connectivity and delivery. In this class of A/V distribution, the audio and video devices do perform better with higher data rate streaming signals.
Today, there are systems that are designed with fiber ports. The large, sophisticated video projector system or thin panel microLED display magnifies details that can only be experienced with high data rate signals. This is the same for multi-channel audio installed in media rooms and home cinemas.
Steve: I see that Cleerline also offers high performance HDMI cables.
Ryan: Understanding that it will take more time for manufactures to design more products with fiber ports, Cleerline’s latest generation direct point-to-point HDMI cables are capable of uncompressed data rates many times over the previous HDMI standard. We solve the distance limitation with our SSF Fiber HDMI cables that support 10K resolution, 48 Gbps speed, feature a plenum-rated jacket, and other installation benefits. These cables reduce EMI and A/V latency issues and support installation for lengths up to 60 meters without the need for extenders.
Steve: Final thoughts?
Ryan: Architects and designers need to understand that the infrastructure backbone of any structure needs to be as robust and future proof as possible, and fiber has clear advantages that includes cost and future application benefits.
The cost of including fiber, added to a traditional copper pre-wiring plan, is a minimal increase and leaves the door open for significant infrastructure upgrades that are of value to the client. The fiber can be terminated in the future without the challenge of having to run additional cables post-construction. While installing empty conduits to accommodate future fiber runs is an option, it is an expensive proposition due to materials and labor (especially as copper prices continue to rise) versus running the fiber during the pre-wire stage.
Both residential and commercial integrators are seeing an increased demand in their projects for higher bandwidth, more network-connected devices, and the need for more reliability across all projects. Cleerline fiber accommodates all of those trends while making it easier, more efficient, and simply a better business practice to deploy fiber.
