-
Essay / The Role of Cables in Network Communication
At present, communication largely depends on connecting a cable or wire to make it effective. Indeed, this is done via electronic gadgets in order to send and receive information. The most common types of cables used today for communication are coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, and twisted pair cable (Robertazzi, 2017). All of these cables could be used to facilitate network communication, thus requiring focus on their differences. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayUnshielded twisted pair cablesThis type of cable tends to be the most commonly used because it is made up of just two insulated wires and twisted together. . It is also used to make regular telephone cables as well as data communications cables. This type of cable is also considered the least expensive compared to other transmission media used for local area networks. It is easy to install and use. One of the disadvantages of unshielded twisted pair cables is their vulnerability to electromagnetic interference. There are also other interferences such as noise and neighboring twisted pairs present in the environment. In order to overcome this drawback, it is supposed to shield the twisted pair using a braid or a metal covering having the ability to reduce interference. UTP has different categories that vary in terms of transmission distances. For example, Category 3 has a transmission function of 16 MHz, Category 4 has 20 MHz, and Category 5 has 100 MHz. Regarding bandwidth, this type of cable has a lower bandwidth than optical fiber since it is less than 10 Gbit/s. . Its cost per meter is lower since it varies from $4 to $6. UTP termination costs today are easier than before due to improving technology that makes it less expensive. This can be seen in relation to optical fiber, which is very difficult. Conversion is difficult for this cable, however, especially in the absence of media converters that make it easier to use seamless connections. UTPs can transmit over long distances using amplifiers and are used in telephone networks. Coaxial cable This type of cable has two conductors just like twisted cable. However, it is constructed in a different way in order to facilitate its operation on various frequencies. It has a hollow conductor located on the outer side, cylindrical in shape and surrounding an inner conductor. This cable has a diameter of 1 cm or 2.5 cm. It could be used over long distances and in many stations compared to twisted cable (Oliviero & Woodward, 2014). Coaxial cable is one of the most adaptable transmission media because it can be used in a variety of ways. Therefore, it is used in television broadcasting, local area networks, telephone transmissions over long distances, and computer connection over short distances. One of the advantages of coaxial cable is that its frequency characteristics are higher than those of twisted pair. This makes it capable of being used in higher data rates and frequencies. Its protected concentric structure increases its ability to tolerate interference compared to twisted pair. Transmission from these cables is in analog or digital form. Therefore, this affects the network transmission distance because the analog spectrum goes up to around 50 MHz while the digital reaches.