What are the types of network cables?

There are three types of network cables, namely: 1. Twisted pair, which is composed of four pairs of twisted copper wires covered with insulating material and wrapped in an insulating sheath; 2. Coaxial cable , refers to a cable with two concentric conductors, and the conductor and shielding layer share the same axis; 3. Optical fiber, the structure of optical fiber is very similar to that of coaxial cable, and it also has an optical fiber made of glass or transparent plastic in the center , surrounded by protective materials, and multiple optical fibers can be combined into one optical cable as needed.

#The operating environment of this tutorial: Windows 10 system, Dell G3 computer.

What are the types of network cables?

Network cables, generally made of metal or glass, can be used to transmit information within the network.

Network cables are cables that connect computers to computers, and computers to other network devices. Commonly used network cables include twisted pairs, coaxial cables and optical fibers.

It is relatively simple to use coaxial cables for network connection. You only need to connect each computer or network device in series, but it is more troublesome to maintain. If something goes wrong somewhere, the entire network may be paralyzed. . To add or remove a computer from the network, you must stop the network and wait until the computer is added or removed before you can continue to use it. At the same time, this method must adopt a bus topology, which is rarely used now.

Twisted pair wire is composed of four pairs of twisted copper wires covered with insulating material and wrapped in an insulating sheath. It can reduce interference caused by clutter and suppress signal attenuation within the cable. If twisted pairs are used, we can easily add or remove a computer from the network without interrupting the work of the network. Network maintenance is also relatively simple. If a network cable fails somewhere, it will only affect the twisted pair connection. computers or devices will not cause network paralysis. However, using twisted pair requires adding a hub or switch to the network, which increases the cost of the network.

Classification

##Twisted pair

Twisted pair (Twisted pair) is divided into Shielded Twisted pair (referred to as STP) and unshielded (UnshieldedTwisted pair, referred to as UTP). The so-called shielding means that the signal line inside the network cable is wrapped with a metal mesh, and outside the shielding layer is the insulating outer skin. The shielding layer can effectively isolate the interference from external electromagnetic signals.

UTP is currently the most frequently used network cable in local area networks. This kind of network cable has 8 signal wires wrapped in a plastic insulated outer sheath. Every two of them are twisted around each other to form a total of four pairs, hence the name twisted pair. The purpose of twisting the twisted pairs around each other is to use the electromagnetic field interaction generated by the current in the copper wire to offset the interference from adjacent lines and reduce interference from the outside world. The number of times each pair of wires is wrapped around each other per inch determines the ability to resist interference and the quality of communication. The tighter the wires are wrapped, the higher the communication quality and can support higher network data transmission rates. Of course, the higher the cost, the higher the communication quality. high.

Coaxial cable

Coaxial cable (Coaxial Cable) refers to a cable with two concentric conductors, and the conductor and shielding layer share the same axis. Because it is wrapped with insulating material outside the main line, and there is a layer of mesh-braided shielded metal wire outside the insulating material, it can well block external electromagnetic interference and improve communication quality.

The advantage of coaxial cable is that it can support high-bandwidth communication on relatively long lines without repeaters, but its disadvantages are also obvious: First, it is large in size, and the diameter of a thin cable is 3/8 inches thick, it takes up a lot of space in the cable duct; second, it cannot withstand tangles, pressure and severe bending, which will damage the cable structure and prevent signal transmission; third, it is costly. All these shortcomings can be overcome by twisted pair, so in the current LAN environment, it has basically been replaced by the Ethernet physical layer specification based on twisted pair. Coaxial cables are divided into two types: thin cables and thick cables.

Optical fiber

Optical fiber (Fiber Optic Cable) transmits signals in the form of light pulses, so the material is mainly made of glass or plexiglass. It consists of fiber core, cladding and protective sheath.

The structure of optical fiber is very similar to that of coaxial cable. It also has an optical fiber made of glass or transparent plastic in the center, surrounded by protective materials. If necessary, multiple optical fibers can be combined into one optical cable. in. According to the different ways of generating optical signals, optical fibers can be divided into single-mode optical fibers and multi-mode optical fibers.

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