Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

LD College of Engineering
Ahmedabad- 380015

Computer Network
Practical 2
Study of different types of network cable
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

Network cables
 Networking cables are networking hardware used to connect one
network device to other network devices or to connect two or more
computers to share printers, scanners etc. Different types of
network cables, such as coaxial cable, optical fiber cable,
and twisted pair cables, are used depending on the
network's physical layer, topology, and size.
 The devices can be separated by a few meters (e.g. via Ethernet)
or nearly unlimited distances (e.g. via the interconnections of
the Internet).
 There are several technologies used for network connections.
 Patch cables are used for short distances in offices and wiring
closets.
 Electrical connections using twisted pair or coaxial cable are used
within a building.
 Optical fiber cable is used for long distances or for applications
requiring high bandwidth or electrical isolation.
 Many installations use structured cabling practices to improve
reliability and maintainability.
 In some home and industrial applications power lines are used as
network cabling.
Here are different types of cables:

1. Coaxial cable:
Coaxial cables, commonly called coax, are copper cables with metal
shielding designed to provide immunity against noise and greater
bandwidth. Coax can transmit signals over larger distances at a
higher speed as compared to twisted pair cables.
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Structure of Coaxial Cables

Coax has a central core of stiff copper conductor for transmitting

signals. This is covered by an insulating material. The insulator is
encased by a closely woven braided metal outer conductor that acts
as a shield against noise. The outer conductor is again enclosed by a
plastic insulating cover. The structure is shown in the following figure
–

Categories of Coaxial Cables

Coaxial cables are categorized into three types as per radio

government (RG) ratings −
 RG – 59: Has impedance of 75W and used in cable TV

 RG – 58: Has impedance of 50W and used in thin Ethernet

 RG – 11: Has impedance of 50W and used in thick Ethernet

Applications of Coaxial Cables

 In analog telephone networks: A single coaxial network can carry

about 10,000 voice signals.
 In digital telephone networks: A coax has a data rate of 600 Mbps.
 In cable TV networks
 In traditional Ethernet LANs
 In MANs
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

2. Twisted pair Cable:

One of the earliest guided transmission media is twisted pair cables. A
twisted pair cable comprises of two separate insulated copper wires,
which are twisted together and run in parallel. The copper wires are
typically 1mm in diameter. One of the wires is used to transmit data
and the other is the ground reference.

Reason for Twisting

All transmissions are prone to noise, interferences, and crosstalks.
When the wires are twisted, some part of the noise signals is in the
direction of data signals while the other parts are in the opposite
directions. Thus the external waves cancel out due to the different
twists. The receiver calculates the difference in the voltages of the
two wires for retrieving data. Thus a much better immunity against
noise is obtained.

Applications of Twisted-Pair Cables

 In telephone lines
 In DSL lines
 In LANs
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

Types of Twisted–Pair Cables

There are two types of twisted pair cables −
1. Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) :
 It consists of color-coded copper wires but does not include any
foil or braiding as insulator to protect against interference.
 Wire pairs within each cable have varying amounts of twists per
foot to produce cancellation.
 There are different categories of UTP.
 The following table shows the UTP categories, the no. of pairs
in each, and the grade of cable each uses, and how they are
implemented.
2. Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) :
 STP is formed from pairs of copper wires that are twisted
together.
 The pairs are covered during a foil or braided mesh, also as
outer PVC jacket.
 This prevent penetration of electromagnetic noise and
eliminate cross talk.
 This shielding must be grounded to stop the foil or braided
mesh from becoming a magnet for electricity.
Here image of STP and UDP is given:
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

Categories of Twisted–Pair Cables:

EIA has classified twisted pair cables into seven categories −
 Category 1 − UTP used in telephone lines with data rate < 0.1
Mbps
 Category 2 − UTP used in transmission lines with a data rate of
2 Mbps
 Category 3 − UTP used in LANs with a data rate of 10 Mbps
 Category 4 − UTP used in Token Ring networks with a data rate
of 20 Mbps
 Category 5 − UTP used in LANs with a data rate of 100 Mbps
 Category 6 − UTP used in LANs with a data rate of 200 Mbps
 Category 7 − STP used in LANs with a data rate of 10 Mbps

Advantages of Twisted pair cable:

 It are often wont to carry both analog and digital data.
 It’s relatively easy to implement and terminate.
 It is the smallest amount expensive media of transmission for
brief distances.
 If portion of a twisted pair cable is broken it doesn’t effect the
whole network.
 Less vulnerable to electrical interference caused by nearby
equipment or wires.
 It cause interference themselves.
 Best performance in short distances.
 High-cost performance
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

Disadvantages of Twisted pair cable:

 It result signal distortion in a very effective manner.
 Attenuation is very high.
 It supports 10 mbps upto a distance of 100 meters on a
10BASE- T which are considered to be low bandwidth.
 It provides poor security and is relatively easy to tap.
 As they a thin so can be easily breakable.
 Low durability (must be maintained regularly).
 Susceptible to electromagnetic interference (EMI).

3. Fiber Optics:
An Optical Fiber is a cylindrical fiber of glass which is hair thin size or
any transparent dielectric medium. The fiber which is used for optical
communication is waveguides made of transparent dielectrics.

Main element of Fiber Optics:

1. Core:
It is the central tube of very thin size made of optically
transparent dielectric medium and carries the light transmitter
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

to receiver and the core diameter may vary from about 5um to
100 um.
2. Cladding:
It is outer optical material surrounding the core having
reflecting index lower than core and cladding helps to keep the
light within the core throughout the phenomena of total
internal reflection.
3. Buffer Coating:
It is a plastic coating that protects the fiber made of silicon
rubber. The typical diameter of the fiber after the coating is
250-300 um.
Types of Fiber optics:
Generally optical fiber is classified into two categories based on: the
number of modes, and the refractive index. These are explained as
following below.
1. On the basis of the Number of Modes:

It is classified into 2 types:

(a). Single-mode fiber:
In single-mode fiber, only one type of ray of light can propagate
through the fiber. This type of fiber has a small core diameter (5um)
and high cladding diameter (70um) and the difference between the
refractive index of core and cladding is very small. There is no
dispersion i.e. no degradation of the signal during traveling through
the fiber. The light is passed through it through a laser diode.

(b). Multi-mode fiber:

Multimode fiber allows a large number of modes for the light ray
traveling through it. The core diameter is generally (40um) and that
of cladding is (70um). The relative refractive index difference is
also
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

greater than single mode fiber. There is signal degradation due to

multimode dispersion. It is not suitable for long-distance
communication due to large dispersion and attenuation of the signal.
There are two categories on the basis of Multi-mode fiber i.e. Step
Index Fiber and Graded Index Fiber. Basically these are categories
under the types of optical fiber on the basis of Refractive Index.
From below figure, we can understand single mode and multimode
fiber optics in better way:

2. On the basis of Refractive Index:

It is also classified into 2 types:

(a). Step-index optical fiber:
The refractive index of core is constant. The refractive index of the
cladding is also constant. The rays of light propagate through it in the
form of meridional rays which cross the fiber axis during every
reflection at the core-cladding boundary.
(b). Graded index optical fiber:
In this type of fiber, the core has a non-uniform refractive index that
gradually decreases from the center towards the core-cladding
interface. The cladding has a uniform refractive index. The light rays
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

propagate through it in the form of skew rays or helical rays. it is not

cross the fiber axis at any time.
Here below is image of multimode step index cable and
multimode graded index cable given:

4. Patch cable:

 A patch cable is a general term for cabling that connects two

electronic devices to each other, typically in a network.
 These devices might include computers and other hardware.
 Patch cables are also used to carry telephone, audio, and video
signals between devices in non-networked applications; these
might include equipment such as headphones and microphones.
 Patch cables are also called patch leads. The term patch cord is
sometimes used as well, but it's often associated more with non-
network types of cables such as those for wiring stereo
components.
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

Patch cables are different from other types in that they're

made to be more flexible than standard stiff, bulky copper
cables. Patch cables always have connectors at both ends.

What Does a Patch Cable Look Like?

 Patch cables can be any color and are usually shorter than other
kinds of networking cables because they're meant for "patching"
devices together.
 Typically, that's accomplished over a short distance, so most are
no longer than two meters.
 In fact, they can even be as short as just a few inches. Longer
cables are usually thicker than their short counterparts and often
are shielded to prevent electromagnetic interference.
 A patch cable is normally made of coaxial cabling, but it also could
consist of fiber optic, shielded or unshielded CAT5/5e/6/6A, or
single-conductor wires.
 A patch cable always has connectors on both ends, which means
it's not as permanent of a solution as some cables like pigtails or
blunt patch cords.
 These are similar to patch cables but have exposed bare wires on
one end that are meant to be connected directly and permanently
to a terminal or other device.
 A patch cord cable differs from a standard structured cabling in
that a patch cable is stranded for flexibility, whereas a standard
cable is
Prajapati Dharmesh 210280116502 Computer Networks

solid copper. Because the patch cord is stranded copper

construction the attenuation (signal loss) is higher on patch cords
than solid cable so short lengths should be adhered to.
 They can be as short as 3 inches (c. 8 cm), to connect stacked
components or route signals through a patch bay, or between 6
meters (c. 20 feet) and 50 meters (c. 164 feet) for snake cables.
 As length increases, the cables are thicker or more shielded, or
both, to prevent signal loss (attenuation) and the introduction of
unwanted radio frequencies and hum (electromagnetic
interference).
 Patch cords are often made of coaxial cables, with the signal
carried through a shielded core, and the electrical ground or earthed
return connection carried through a wire mesh surrounding the
core.
 Each end of the cable is attached to a connector so that the cord
may be plugged in. Connector types may vary widely, particularly
with adapting cables.
Patch cords may be:
 single-conductor wires using, for example, banana
connectors (or pin plugs)
 coaxial cables using, for example, BNC connectors

 shielded or unshielded Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6 or Cat6A cables

using 8P8C (RJ-45) modular connectors with straight-

through T568A or T568B wiring (modular cables wired to T568A
at one end and T568B on the other are more commonly
referred to as crossover cables)
 qualified optical fiber cables for use with modular fiber optic

spectroscopy equipment