Fixed-Design or Modular Plate | Wall Plate Design

Another design and installation decision you have to make is whether to use fixed-design or modular wall plates. Fixed-design wall plates (as shown in Figure 1) are available with multiple kinds of jacks, but the jacks are molded as part of the wall plate. You cannot remove the jack and replace it with a different type of connector.

 
Figure 1: A fixed-design wall plate

Fixed-design plates are usually used in telephone applications rather than LAN wiring applications because, although they are cheap, they have limited flexibility. Fixed-design plates have a couple of advantages and disadvantages (as shown in Table 1).

Modular wall plates, on the other hand, are generic and have multiple jack locations (as shown in Figure 2). In a modular wall plate system, this plate is known as a faceplate (it's not a wall plate until it has its jacks installed). Jacks for each faceplate are purchased separately from the wall plates.

 
Figure 2: Modular wall plates with multiple jack locations

Table 1: Advantages and Disadvantages of Fixed-Design Wall Plates 

Advantages	Disadvantages
Inexpensive	Configuration cannot be changed
Simple to install	Usually not compatible with high-speed networking systems

Tip

When using modular wall plates, make sure to use the jacks designed for that wall plate system. Generally speaking, jacks from different wall plate systems are not interchangeable.