NETWORK CABLES:

Network cables have evolved significantly since the original standard was created in the early
1980s. From the original 10Base2 (Thin Coaxial) cable terminated with BNC connectors to
the fiber optic technology we see today the change has been dramatic. For a network to
function at its most efficient it is critical for the correct cable to be matched to the type of
network being deployed as well as keeping the maximum distance specifications within
tolerance.

Types of cables:
Twisted pair cable:
It consists of two insulated copper wires arranged in a regular spiral pattern. A wire pair acts
as a single communication link. A number of these pairs are bundled together into a cable by
wrapping them in a tough protective sheath. Over longer distances, cables may contain
hundreds of pairs. The twisting tends to decrease the crosstalk interference between adjacent
pairs in a cable. On long distance links, the twist length typically varies from 5 t0 15 cm.The
wires in a pair have thickness of from 0.4 to 0.9 mm.

Crossover Cable - standard Ethernet cables are "straight-thru". Pin 1 on one end connects to
Pin 1 on the far end, Pin2 to Pin2, and so on. There are only 4 pins that are used, since you
only need two wires for transmit, and two for receive. The two pairs used are 1-2, and 3-
6. With a crossover cable, the wires connected to Pins 1-2 on one end are "crossed over" and
connected to Pins 3-6 on the far end. The same is done with the wires connected to Pins 3-6 -
they are crossed over and connected to Pins 1-2 on the far end.
TIA/EIA 568-A and 568-B Color Schemes (Twisted Pair):

There are two wiring sequences, where the wires and color codes are matched to the RJ-45
pins. Which of these two wiring pin and coloring standards you need to use will depend
mostly on your locale. For example, Virginia stipulates that 568-A must be used. Actually,
568-A is more common and is even called "preferred". Just be aware that you need to check
with the building manager before installing cables.

 Preferred - TIA/EIA 568-A

 Optional - TIA/EIA 568-B (comes from the old AT&T standard, 258A)

Rj45 receptacle-not plug.

Ethernet Send/Receive Pairs 2 and 3 positions are reversed. However - in both cases:

 Pair 2 = White/Orange and Orange

 Pair 3 = White/Green and Green
The colors schemes are listed below with traditional nomenclature of Base/Stripe, where the
Base coat color is listed first, followed by the Stripe color. For example, White/Blue means
the insulated sheath base color is white (not paint - the actual material is white), with stripes
or dashes of the secondary color, Blue, painted on.

Types of twisted pair cables:

Unshielded Twisted Pair: It is ordinary telephone wire. Office buildings, by universal

practice, are prewired with excess unshielded twisted pair, more than is needed for simple
telephone support. In UTP two insulated color coded copper wires are twisted around each
other to decrease crosstalk or electromagnetic induction between wire pairs and does not
include any foil or branding as insulator to protect against interference.

Shielded Twisted Pair: The twisted pair is shielded with a metallic braid or sheathing that
reduces interference. This STP provides better performance at higher data rates.STP is made
up of copper wires that are twisted together and offers a protective sheathing around the
copper wire. The pairs are covered in a foil or braided mesh as well as outer PVC jacket
which prevent electromagnetic noise and Crosstalk.
Coaxial cable:
Coaxial cables are a type of cable that is used by cable TV and that is common for data
communications. Taking a round cross-section of the cable, one would find a single center
solid wire symmetrically surrounded by a braided or foil conductor. Between the center wire
and foil is a insulating dielectric. This dialectric has a large affect on the fundamental
characteristics of the cable. In this lab, we show the how the permittivity and permeability of
the dialectric contributes to the cable's inductance and capacitance.

Optical Fiber Cable:

It is a thin, medium capable of guiding an optical ray. It has cylindrical shape and consists of
three concentric sections: the core, the cladding and the jacket. The core is the inner section
and consists of one or more very thin fibers of glass or plastic; core has diameter in the range
of 8 to 50 micrometer. Each fiber is surrounded by its own cladding, a glass or plastic
coating that has optical properties different from those of the core and a diameter of 125
micrometer. The interface between core and cladding acts as a reflector to confine light that
would otherwise escape the core. The outermost layer, surrounding one or a bundle of
cladded fibres, is the jacket.

Fiber optic cable functions as a "light guide," guiding the light introduced at one end of the
cable through to the other end. The light source can either be a light-emitting diode (LED) or
laser.
There are three types of fiber optic cable commonly used: single mode, multimode and
plastic optical fiber (POF).
Single Mode cable is a single stand (most applications use 2 fibers) of glass fiber with a
diameter of 8.3 to 10 microns that has one mode of transmission. Single Mode Fiber with a
relatively narrow diameter, through which only one mode will propagate typically 1310 or
1550nm. Carries higher bandwidth than multimode fiber, but requires a light source with a
narrow spectral width.

Multi-Mode cable Multimode fiber gives you high bandwidth at high speeds (10 to 100MBS
- Gigabit to 275m to 2km) over medium distances. Light waves are dispersed into numerous
paths, or modes, as they travel through the cable's core typically 850 or 1300nm. Typical
multimode fiber core diameters are 50, 62.5, and 100 micrometers. However, in long cable
runs (greater than 3000 feet [914.4 meters), multiple paths of light can cause signal distortion
at the receiving end, resulting in an unclear and incomplete data transmission .