NETWORK MEDIA TYPES

TWISTED PAIR CABLE, COAXIAL CABLE, FIBER OPTIC CABLE, WIRELESS TRANSMISSION
TWISTED-PAIR CABLES

 Twisted-pair cables consist of one or more insulated copper wires

that are twisted together and housed in a protective jacket like all
copper wires, twisted-pair uses electric pulses to transmit data. The
data transmission over copper cable is sensitive to “Electromagnetic
interference”(EMI), which reduce the data throughput rate.
 Another source of interference is “crosstalk”, this occurs when
cables are bundled together for a long distance, the pulse travelling
through one cable can cross over another cable. This occurs mostly
due to improper installation and termination.
 TYPES OF TWISTED-PAIR CABLES

1. Unshielded Twisted-Pair (UTP): This type of twisted-pair cables are easy to install, offers
a high bandwidth and is easy to install.
2. Shielded Twisted-Pair (STP): Unlike UTP, it has a shielding around the cables which
makes this cables resistant to EMI and Radio Frequency Interference.
 There are many different categories of UTP cables was developed to support a specific
technology. The cable types which are still commonly found include Categories 3,5,5e and
6.

 The most common type of connector used to terminate twisted-pair cabling is

RJ-45.
UTP CABLE

 The most common form of network cable is called “unshielded twisted pair”
(UTP). This cable format is used for the Ethernet wiring standards, which are
managed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
These wiring standards are referred to by the code 802.3. The Ethernet standards
are open to anyone to read and they include specifications of cable configurations
and the types of connectors used to plug cables into devices. What we
conventionally know as a network cable is an 802.3 specified cable for Ethernet
networks.
TYPES OF ETHERNET CABLE
1. Straight-Through Cable

 This cable type has identical wiring on both ends (pin 1 on one end of the cable is
connected to pin 1 at the other end of the cable, pin 2 is connected to pin 2 etc.):
 This type of cable is used to connect the following devices:
• computer to hub
• computer to switch
• router to hub
• router to switch
 Computers and routers use wires 1 and 2 to transmit data and wires 3 and 6 to
receive data. Hubs and switches use wires 1 and 2 to receive data and wires 3
and 6 to send data. That is why, if you want to connect two computers together,
you will need a crossover cable.
2. Crossover Cable

 With the crossover cable, the wire pairs are swapped, which means that different
pins are connected together – pin 1 on one end of the cable is connected to pin 3
on the other end, pin 2 on one end is connected to pin 6 on the other end
2 TYPES OF WIRING STANDARDS

 T568A and T568B are the wiring standards that define the pinout (connection
order) for terminating twisted-pair network cable in eight-pin modular connector
plugs and jacks. These wiring standards are one part of the TIA/EIA-568
telecommunications cabling standards.
COAXIAL CABLE

 Coaxial cable also carry data in form of electric pulse, like as UTP cables. It
provides improved shielding and can carry more data. Coaxial cable is
mainly made of either copper or aluminum. Coaxial cables are made of
single rigid copper core that conducts signal, covered by a layer of
insulation, metal shielding and protective jacket. This cable is used by cable
television companies to provide service and for connecting the various
components that make up satellite communication systems. It is physically
harder to install, more expensive and harder to troubleshoot.
FIBER-OPTIC CABLES

 Unlike UTP or coax, fiber-optic cables transmit data in the form

of light pulses. This is widely used by large data centers and
enterprises. It is constructed of glass or plastic, neither of which
conducts electricity. This is immune to RFI and EMI, so it can be
installed in the environments where there is a lot of interference.
It is useful to transmit data for a long distance. Either lasers
or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are used to represent
transmitted data as bits. It supports large bandwidth, high-speed
data networks.