Cable

Cable is a bunch of wire which is used to transmit data or information within the network from one host to another host or from one network to another network. There are different kinds of cable but more importantly we use twisted pair cable.

1.  Coaxial Cable: - The coaxial cable is outdated now. This cable was used in prior with the BUS topology or Ring topology to establish the network. In this cable there lie two wires. One is the Copper wire which transmits the Analog Signal and another one is concentric wire which transmits the digital signal. The copper wire is protected with a white coloured inner sheath and the concentric wire is protected with a black coloured upper sheath. It looks same as the cable of TV. The connectors used with this cable are T-connector, BNC connector and the End connector. It has data transfer rate up to 10 MbPS. There are two kinds of coaxial cable:

     a.  Thicknet

     b.  Thinnet

2.  Twisted Pair Cable: - It is the 4 paired cables in which all the pairs are twisted together 6 turns per inch with each other. The 4 paired cables are in different colours. They are:

[a] Orange   -        Orange White

          [b] Green    -        Green White

          [c] Blue                 -        Blue White

          [d] Brown   -        Brown White

There are two kinds of twisted pair cable:

1.  STP (Shielded Twisted Pair Cable)

2.  UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable)

On the basis of Category (CAT) there are different kinds of cable:

a.  CAT1     >       2 paired cable       >       Bandwith / Data transfer rate 1-2 Mbps

b.  CAT2     >       4 paired cable       >       Bandwith / Data transfer rate 10 Mbps

c.  CAT3     >       4 paired cable       >       Bandwith / Data transfer rate 16 Mbps

d.  CAT4     >       4 paired cable       >       Bandwith / Data transfer rate 20 Mbps

e.  CAT5     >       4 paired cable       >       Bandwith / Data transfer rate 100 Mbps

f.   CAT5E  >       4 paired cable       >       Bandwith / Data transfer rate 1 GbPS/ 1000 Mbps

Among these categories, most we use CAT5 or CAT5E. Using CAT5, we can establish the network within 200 meters of long distance and using the CAT5E, we can establish the network within 500 meters of long distance.

The connector of twisted pair cable is RJ-45.

3.  Fiber Optic Cable: - The Fiber optic cable uses the light signal instead of electronic signal to transmit the data. Its connectors are SC and ST. Its metal sheath is highly polished through which light wave passes to transmit the data. It transmits the data in the speed of light. The transfer rate of this cable is 100-1000 Gbps.