CN-1340503 230761305033

Practical 2
Study of different types of network cables and practically implementing
the cross-wired cable and straight through using clamping tool.

 Network cables:
Networking cable is a piece of networking hardware used to connect one network
device to other network devices or to connect two or more computers to share devices
such as printers or scanners. Different types of network cables are used depending
on the network's topology, protocol, and size.

[Fig 2.1: Types of network cables]

1. Twisted pair cable:

As the name suggests, a twisted-pair cable consists of pairs of wires that form the
circuit to transmit data. The wires are insulated conductors generally made of copper
and twisted together.

[Fig 2.1.1(a): Unshielded Twisted Pair Cables] [Fig 2.1.2(b): Shielded Twisted Pair Cables]
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o Types of twisted pair cables:

i. Unshielded Twisted Pair Cables (UTP): These are a pair of two insulated
copper wires twisted together without any other insulation or shielding and hence
are called unshielded twisted pair cables. ii. Shielded Twisted Pair Cables
(STP): These types of cables have extra insulation or protective covering over the
conductors in the form of a copper braid covering. This covering provides strength
to the overall structure of the cable.
o Advantages:

• It often won’t 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 affect the whole network.
• Less vulnerable to electrical interference caused by nearby equipment or wires.
• It causes interference themselves.
• Best performance in short distances.
• High-cost performance.
• The twisted-pair cable is low in weight.
• Twisted pair cable is flexible to use.
• Twisted Pair cable is easy to connect.
• These cables are suitable for Data and voice infrastructure.

o Disadvantages:

• It results signal distortion in a very effective manner.

• Attenuation is very high.
• It supports 10 mbps, up to a distance of 100 meters on a 10BASE-T which is
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)

2. Coaxial cable:
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Coaxial cables have concentric layers of electrical conductors and insulating material.
This construction ensures signals are enclosed within the cable and prevents electrical
noise from interfering with the signal.

[Fig 2.1.2: Coaxial Cable]

o Types of coaxial cables:

i. Hard-line coaxial cable: A hard - line coaxial cable relies on round copper tubing
and a combination of metals as a shield, such as aluminum or copper. These cables
are commonly used to connect a transmitter to an antenna. ii. Tri-axial cable: It has
a third layer of shielding that is grounded to protect signals transmitted down the cable.
iii. Rigid-line coaxial cables: These cables are made up of twin copper tubes that
function as unbendable pipes. These lines are designed for indoor use between high-
power radio frequency (RF) transmitters. iv. Radiating cable: Radiating cable mimics
many components of the hard- line cable, but with tuned slots in the shielding matched
to the RF wavelength at which the cable operates. It is commonly used in elevators,
military equipment and underground tunnels.

o Advantages:

• Coaxial cable is very durable.

• Best performance in short-distance transmission.

o Disadvantages:

• Long-distance signal loss is serious.

• Signal leakage at the connection.
• Speed fluctuation under heavy use.

3. Optical fiber:
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Optical fiber is the technology associated with data transmission using light pulses
travelling along with a long fiber which is usually made of plastic or glass. The fiber
optical cable uses the application of total internal reflection of light.

[Fig 2.1.3(a): Optical fiber] [Fig 2.1.3(b): Optical fiber cross section]

o Types of Optical fibers:

• On the basis of refractive index:

i. Step Index Fibers: It consists of a core surrounded by the cladding, which
has a single uniform index of refraction.
ii. Graded Index Fibers: The refractive index of the optical fiber decreases as
the radial distance from the fiber axis increases.

• On the basis of materials used:

i. Plastic Optical Fibers: The polymethylmethacrylate is used as a core
material for the transmission of light.
ii. Glass Fibers: It consists of extremely fine glass fibers.

• On the basis of mode of propagation of light:

i. Single-Mode Fibers: These fibers are used for long-distance transmission
of signals. ii. Multimode Fibers: These fibers are used for short-distance
transmission of signals.

o Advantages:
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• Optical Fiber cable endorses extremely high speed and bandwidth.

• It is slim and turns into smaller diameters than copper wires. It is tiny in size and
lightweight in comparison to copper wire.
• It is inexpensive. Elongated, continuous miles of optical fiber can be developed
cheaper than copper wire.
• Minimum signal loss in the optical fiber is seen as compared to the Copper wire.
• It is very hard to tap as they do not generate electromagnetic energy, and thus,
optical fiber is very suitable for transmitting highly secured data. Therefore, the
military and other security agencies use optical fiber extensively to transmit their
data.
• It is said that Optical fiber has a life span of more than 100 years.
• They have a large carrying capacity. These optical fibers are very slim than copper
wires, so more fibers can be turned into a given diameter cable.

o Disadvantages:

• It is more fragile and vulnerable to damage than copper wires. Optical fiber cannot
be twisted or bent too tightly.
• Light emitting sources are very limited to low power.
• It requires trained and skilled men to place fiber in the optic cable. As optical fiber
is more vulnerable to damage, trained men can only fix faulty joints.
• Costly devices are required to read the signal coming from the Optical Fiber.
Repeaters are required to maximize the strength of the signal.
• The price of the optical fiber may surge in demand.

4. RJ45:

RJ45 stands for Registered Jack 45 and is the most commonly used connector in
wired networks. The jacks are mainly used to connect to the Local Area Network
(LAN).

o Standards:

There are two wiring standards used for eight-position RJ45 modular plugs:
T568A and T568B.
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The difference between T568A and T568B is that the orange and green pairs are
interchanged. In T568A, the green wire connects to pin three and the orange wire
connects to pin six. In T568B, the orange wire connects to pin three and the green
wire connects to pin six. All the other wires connect to the same pins in both standards.

[Fig 2.2(a): RJ45 (T568A and T568B)] [Fig 2.2(b): RJ45 (T568B)]

o Advantages:

• RJ45 connectors provide much greater speed.

• They are cheaper as compared to other connectors. • Supports much greater
bandwidth (100 Mbps)
• They are very reliable.

o Disadvantages:

• RJ45 have compatibility issues. They are not compatible with other connectors. •
These connectors are neither weatherproof therefore they do not have much
durability.