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Network Cabling

Ordinarily, cable is the medium that connects network devices. However, today, there are many networks that do not use cable. Instead, data is carried through the air as radio frequency, microwave, infra-red or as laser-produced signals. With many networks going wireless, the use of cable is still seen as the main way of connecting larger networks and then deploying wireless small networks. In network hardware, LAN users have three basic choices when it comes to cable. They can either decide to use coaxial, twisted-pair or fiber-optic. Both the coaxial and the twisted-pair cables use copper wires to conduct signals while fiber-optic cables use glass or a plastic conductor. The twisted pair cable is favored over coaxial and most protocols that were originally using coaxial cable have been replaced with the shielded and the unshielded twisted pair cable. With the coming of the fiber-optic, the latter seem to be becoming obsolete as well. However, a closer look at these technologies will help you have a better understanding of network hardware cabling.

The physical properties of cable pose a rather obvious limitation. There is a certain limit that data can travel until signal regeneration. While this may boost the cable’s speed, there is a tradeoff with the distance that it can travel. Coaxial cable has a long history and is used in cable television. Since many signals can be transmitted at the same time, it can be used to transmit both broadband signals as well as cable TV without causing interference. Coax can handle a lot of traffic due to its large bandwidth. However, it has been replaced by the twisted pair cable. Twisted pair cable has some significant advantages over both the coax as well as the fiber-optic cable. It is lighter, thinner, more flexible and easier to install. Unshielded twisted pair is the ordinary telephone wire and is seen as the cable of choice for departmental networks.

It would be unjustified to talk about network hardware cabling without mentioning about fiber-optic. The use of fiber optics as a communication channel was suggested back in 1966 and since then, its development has been phenomenon. The advancement of network hardware has also been influenced by the huge bandwidth that fiber optic cables are able to carry. Transmission speeds have increased dramatically and networks are now used for such things as real-time communication. Do doubt the development of networks and network hardware has revolutionized our current world.

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