Three Media Types

Communication transmits across a network on media. The media provides the channel over which
the message travels from source to destination.

Modern networks primarily use three types of media to interconnect devices, as shown in the figure:

 Metal wires within cables - Data is encoded into electrical impulses.

 Glass or plastic fibers within cables (fiber-optic cable) - Data is encoded into pulses of
light.
 Wireless transmission - Data is encoded via modulation of specific frequencies of
electromagnetic waves.

The four main criteria for choosing network media are these:

 What is the maximum distance that the media can successfully carry a signal?
 What is the environment in which the media will be installed?
 What is the amount of data and at what speed must it be transmitted?
 What is the cost of the media and installation?

Common Network Cables

The three most common network cables are twisted-pair, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable.

Twisted-Pair Cable

Ethernet technology generally uses twisted-pair cables to interconnect devices. Because Ethernet is
the foundation for most local networks, twisted-pair is the most commonly encountered type of
network cabling.

In twisted-pair, wires are grouped in pairs and twisted together to reduce interference. The pairs of
wires are colored so that you can identify the same wire at each end. Typically, in each pair, one of
the wires is a solid color and its partner is the same color striped onto a white background.

Coaxial Cable

Coaxial was one of the earliest types of network cabling developed. Coaxial cable is the kind of
copper cable used by cable TV companies. It is also used for connecting the various components
which make up satellite communication systems. Coaxial cable has a single rigid copper core that
conducts the signal. This core is typically surrounded by a layer of insulation, braided metal
shielding, and a protective jacket. It is used as a high-frequency transmission line to carry high-
frequency or broadband signals.

Fiber-Optic Cable

Fiber-optic cable can be either glass or plastic with a diameter about the same as a human hair and
it can carry digital information at very high speeds over long distances. Because light is used instead
of electricity, electrical interference does not affect the signal. Fiber-optic cables have many uses as
well as communications. They are also used in medical imaging, medical treatment, and mechanical
engineering inspection.
 They have a very high bandwidth, which enables them to carry very large amounts of data. Fiber is
used in backbone networks, large enterprise environments, and large data centers. It is also used
extensively by telephone companies.

Twisted-Pair Cables
The networks in most homes and schools are wired with twisted-pair copper cable. This type of
cable is inexpensive compared to other types of cabling, and it is readily available. The Ethernet
patch cables that you can purchase through the internet or at a retail store are an example of copper
twisted-pair cable.

Twisted-pair cables consist of one or more pairs of insulated copper wires that are twisted together
and housed in a protective jacket. Like all copper cables, twisted-pair uses pulses of electricity to
transmit data.

Data transmission over copper cable is sensitive to electromagnetic interference (EMI), which can
reduce the data throughput rate that a cable can provide. Common items in a home that can create
EMI include microwave ovens and fluorescent light fixtures.

Another source of interference, known as crosstalk, occurs when cables are bundled together for
long lengths. The electrical impulses from one cable can cross over to an adjacent cable. This
occurs most frequently when cables are improperly installed and terminated. When data
transmission is corrupted due to interference such as crosstalk, the data must be retransmitted. This
can degrade the data carrying capacity of the medium.

Types of Twisted-Pair Cables

There are two commonly installed types of twisted-pair cable:

 Unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) - This is the most commonly encountered type of network
cable in North America and many other areas.
 Shielded cables (STP) - These are used almost exclusively in European countries.
 UTP Cable
 UTP cable is inexpensive, offers a high bandwidth, and is easy to install. This type of cable is
used to connect workstations, hosts and network devices. It can come with many different
numbers of pairs inside the jacket, but the most common number of pairs is four. Each pair is
identified by a specific color code.
 STP Cable
 There are electrical environments in which EMI and RFI are so strong that shielding is a
requirement to make communication possible, such as in a factory. In this instance, it may
be necessary to use a cable that contains shielding, such as shielded twisted-pair (STP).
Unfortunately, STP cables are very expensive, not as flexible, and have additional
requirements because of the shielding that make them difficult to work with.

Many different categories of UTP cables have been developed over time, as shown in the table.
Each category of cable was developed to support a specific technology and most are no longer
encountered in homes or offices. The cable types which are still commonly found include Categories
3, 5, 5e, and 6.

Category Speed Features

Cat 3 UTP 10 Mbps at 16 MHz  Suitable for Ethernet LANs
Category Speed Features
 Most often used for phone lines

100 Mbps at 100

Cat 5 UTP Manufactured with higher standard than Cat 3 to allow for higher data transfer rates
MHz
 Manufactured with higher standard than Cat 5 to allow for higher data transfer rates
1000 Mbps at 100
Cat 5e UTP  More twists per foot than Cat 5 to better prevent EMI and RFI from outside sources
MHz

1000 Mbps at 250

Cat 6 UTP
MHz
 Manufactured with higher standard than Cat 5e
1000 Mbps at 500
Cat 6a UTP  More twists per foot than Cat 5 to better prevent EMI and RFI from outside sources
MHz
10 Gbps at 600
Cat 7 ScTP
MHz

All categories of data grade UTP cable are traditionally terminated into an RJ-45 connector. There
are still some applications that require the smaller RJ-11 connector, such as analog phones and
some fax machines.

Cable TV and Satellite Cables

Like twisted-pair, coaxial cable (or coax) carries data in the form of electrical signals. It provides
improved shielding compared to UTP and can therefore carry more data. Coaxial cable is usually
constructed of either copper or aluminum. It is used by cable television companies to provide service
and for connecting the various components that make up satellite communication systems. You are
probably familiar with the coaxial cables used to connect a TV set to the signal source, be it a cable
TV outlet, satellite TV, or conventional antenna in your home. With the addition of a cable modem,
the cable television provider can offer data and internet service, as well as television signals and
telephone over the same coaxial cable.

Although coax has improved data carrying characteristics, twisted-pair cabling has replaced coax in
local area networking uses. Among the reasons for the replacement is that compared to UTP, coax
is physically harder to install, more expensive, and harder to troubleshoot.

Fiber-Optic Cables
Unlike UTP and coax, fiber-optic cables transmit data using pulses of light. Although not normally
found in home or small business environments, fiber-optic cabling is widely used in enterprise
environments and large data centers.

Fiber-optic cable is constructed of either glass or plastic, neither of which conducts electricity. This
means that it is immune to EMI and RFI, and is suitable for installation in environments where
interference is a problem. Fiber connections are a good choice to extend networks from one building
to another, both because of distance considerations and because fiber cables are more resistant to
outdoor environmental conditions than copper cables. Each fiber-optic circuit is actually two fiber
cables. One is used to transmit data; the other is used to receive data.
  Jacket - Typically a PVC jacket that protects the fiber against abrasion, moisture, and other
contaminants. This outer jacket composition can vary depending on the cable usage.
 Strengthening Material - Surrounds the buffer, prevents the fiber cable from being
stretched when it is being pulled. The material used is often the same material used to
produce bulletproof vests.
 Buffer - Used to help shield the core and cladding from damage.
 Cladding - Made from slightly different chemicals than those used to create the core. It
tends to act like a mirror by reflecting light back into the core of the fiber. This keeps light in
the core as it travels down the fiber.
 Core - The core is actually the light transmission element at the center of the optical fiber.
This core is typically silica or glass. Light pulses travel through the fiber core.

Fiber-optic cables can reach distances of several miles or kilometers before the signal needs to be
regenerated. Either lasers or light emitting diodes (LEDs) generate the light pulses that are used to
represent the transmitted data as bits on the media. In addition to its resistance to EMI, fiber-optic
cables support a large amount of bandwidth, making them ideally suited for high-speed data
networks. Bandwidth on fiber-optic links can reach speeds of 100 Gbps and is continually increasing
as standards are developed and adopted. Fiber-optic links are found in many corporations and are
also used to connect ISPs on the internet.

Twisted-Pair Wiring Schemes

Have you ever looked closely at the plastic RJ-45 connector at the end of an Ethernet patch cable?
Did you ever wonder why each of the wires terminating in the connector has a specific color or
pattern? The color coding of the wire pairs in an UTP cable is determined by the type of standard
that is used to make the cable. Different standards have different purposes and are closely governed
by the standards organizations.

For typical Ethernet installations, there are two standards that are widely implemented. The TIA/EIA
organization defines two different patterns, or wiring schemes, called T568A and T568B, as shown
in the figure. Each wiring scheme defines the pinout, or order of wire connections, on the end of the
cable.

On a network installation, one of the two wiring schemes (T568A or T568B) should be chosen and
followed. It is important that the same wiring scheme is used for every termination in that project.

The figure shows diagrams of the T568A and T568B wiring standards. Each shows the correct
pinout for the individual wire pairs. Each color wire pair is numbered and consists of a solid color
wire and a white striped wire. Pair 1 is blue, pair 2 is orange, pair 3 is green, and pair 4 is brown.
Each standard alternates between white striped and solid wires. For the T568A standard, the blue
pair are terminated at pins 4 and 5, the orange pair are terminated at pins 3 and 6, the green pair is
terminated at pins 1 and 2, and the brown pair is terminated at pins 7 and 8. For the T568B
standard, the blue pair is terminated at pins 4 and 5, the orange pair is terminated at pins 1 and 2,
the green pair is termination at pins 3 and 6, and the brown pair is terminated at pins 7 and 8.

T568A and T568B Standards

Twisted-Pair Transmit and Receive Pairs

Ethernet NICs and the ports on networking devices are designed to send data over UTP cables.
Specific pins on the connector are associated with a transmit function and a receive function. The
interfaces on each device are designed to transmit and receive data on designated wires within the
cable.

When two devices are directly connected using an UTP Ethernet cable, it is important that the
transmit function and the receive function on each end of the cable are reversed. One device sends
data on a specific set of wires and the device on the other end of the cable listens for the data on the
same wires.

Two devices that use different wires for transmit and receive are known as unlike devices. They
require a straight-through cable to exchange data. Straight-through cables have the same color
patterns on both ends of the cable.

Click Play in the figure to view transmission across a straight-through cable.

Devices that are directly connected and use the same pins for transmit and receive, are known as
like devices. They require the use of a crossover cable in order to reverse the transmit function and
receive function so that the devices can exchange data.

Using the ping Command

Every device that sends messages across the internet must have an Internet Protocol (IP) address
to identify it to the other devices in the network. IP addresses are assigned by network
administrators. When a new device is added to a network, or if an existing device is having
problems, it may be necessary to test the network to determine if the IP address assigned to the
device can be reached by other devices on the network.

The ping utility tests end-to-end connectivity between the IP address of the source of the message
and the IP address of its destination. It measures the time that it takes test messages to make a
round trip from the source to the destination, and whether the transmission is successful. However, if
the test message does not reach the destination, or if delays are encountered along the way, there is
no way to determine where the problem is located.

The format of the ping command is universally implemented. Almost all network attached devices
provide a way to perform a ping test. The format of the ping command is ping x.x.x.x, where x.x.x.x
is an IP address or domain name:

For example, ping 192.168.30.1.

The traceroute Command

The internet is not really a place; it is the interconnection of many different networks that provide
services to the users. We can see this connectivity by using a network utility call traceroute.

As shown in the figure, the traceroute utility traces the route a message takes from its source to the
destination. Each individual network through which the message travels is referred to as a hop.
The traceroute command displays each hop along the way and the time it takes for the message to
get to that network and back.

If a problem occurs, use the output of the traceroute utility to help determine where a message was
lost or delayed. The traceroute utility is called tracert in the Windows environment.

What Did I Learn in this Module?

Network Media Types

Modern networks primarily use three types of media to interconnect devices and to provide the
pathway over which data can be transmitted: copper wires within cables, glass or plastic fibers (fiber-
optic cable), and wireless transmission. The four main criteria for choosing network media are: the
distance the media can successfully carry a signal, the environment in which the media is to be
installed, the amount of data and the speed at which it must be transmitted, and the cost of the
media and installation.

Twisted-pair is the most common network cable. The wires are grouped in pairs and twisted together
to reduce interference. Coaxial cable is usually made of copper or aluminum. It has a single rigid
core surrounded by a layer of insulation, braided metal shielding, and a protective jacket. Glass or
plastic fiber-optic cable core has a diameter similar to a human hair. These cables can carry digital
information at high speeds over long distances.

Ethernet Cabling

Twisted-pair cables consist of one or more pairs of insulated copper wires that are twisted together
and housed in a protective jacket. Like all copper cables, twisted-pair uses pulses of electricity to
transmit data. Data transmission over copper cable is sensitive to EMI, which can reduce the data
throughput rate that a cable can provide. Common items in a home that can create EMI include
microwave ovens and fluorescent light fixtures. Another source of interference, known as crosstalk,
occurs when cables are bundled together for long lengths. The electrical impulses from one cable
can cross over to an adjacent cable.

There are two commonly installed types of twisted-pair cable: UTP (most commonly used type) and
STP (used most often in European countries). UTP cable types which are still commonly found
include Categories 3, 5, 5e and 6. All categories of data grade UTP cable are traditionally terminated
into an RJ-45 connector.

Coaxial and Fiber-Optic Cabling

Like twisted-pair, coaxial cable (or coax) carries data in the form of electrical signals. It provides
improved shielding compared to UTP and can therefore carry more data. Although coax has
improved data carrying characteristics, twisted-pair cabling has replaced coax in LANs because
coax is harder to install, more expensive, and harder to troubleshoot.

Unlike UTP and coax, fiber-optic cables transmit data using pulses of light. Fiber-optic cable is
constructed of either glass or plastic, neither of which conducts electricity. This means that it is
immune to EMI and RFI, and is suitable for installation in environments where interference is a
problem. Fiber connections are a good choice to extend networks from one building to another, both
because of distance considerations and because fiber cables are more resistant to outdoor
environmental conditions than copper cables. Each fiber-optic circuit is actually two fiber cables. One
is used to transmit data; the other is used to receive data. Either lasers or light emitting diodes
(LEDs) generate the light pulses that are used to represent the transmitted data as bits on the
media. In addition to its resistance to EMI, fiber-optic cables support a large amount of bandwidth,
making them ideally suited for high-speed data networks.

Twisted Pair Operation

The color coding of the wire pairs in an UTP cable are determined by the type of standard that is
used to make the cable. Different standards have different purposes and are closely governed by the
standards organizations.

For typical Ethernet installations, there are two widely implemented standards. The TIA/EIA
organization defines two different patterns, or wiring schemes, called T568A and T568B. Each wiring
scheme defines the pinout, or order of wire connections, on the end of the cable. It is important that
the same wiring scheme is used for every termination in an installation.

Ethernet NICs and the ports on networking devices are designed to send data over UTP cables.
Specific pins on the connector are associated with a transmit function and a receive function. The
interfaces on each device are designed to transmit and receive data on designated wires within the
cable. Two devices that use different wires for transmit and receive are known as unlike devices.
They require a straight-through cable to exchange data. Straight-through cables have the same color
patterns on both ends of the cable. Devices that are directly connected and use the same pins for
transmit and receive are known as like devices. They require the use of a crossover cable in order to
reverse the transmit function and receive function so that the devices can exchange data.

Verify Connectivity

The ping utility tests end-to-end connectivity between the IP address of the source of the message
and the IP address of its destination. It measures the time that it takes test messages to make a
round trip from the source to the destination and whether the transmission is successful.

The traceroute utility traces the route a message takes from its source to the destination. Each
individual network through which the message travels is referred to as a hop.
The traceroute command displays each hop along the way and the time it takes for the message to
get to that network and back. The traceroute utility is called tracert in the Windows environment.