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Chapter 2

NETWORK CABLING
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TOPOLOGIES

§ There are three main local area network (LAN)

topologies:
§ Bus
§ Star
§ Ring
§ Other network topologies include:
§ Mesh
§ Wireless
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BUS TOPOLOGY

§ The bus topology supports thick and thin coaxial segments.

§ Segments are connected by repeaters.
§ The bus topology uses the baseband signaling method.
§ Signals are broadcast in both directions simultaneously.
§ Both ends of each segment require termination to avoid
reflection.
§ End systems connect to the segment in a linear manner.
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THICK AND THIN COAXIAL BUS

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STAR TOPOLOGY

§ The star topology can use coaxial, twisted pair, or fiber

optic cable.
§ A central device (hub) connects hubs and nodes to the
network.
§ Each node connects to its own dedicated port on the hub.
§ Hubs broadcast transmitted signals to all connected devices.
§ You can connect multiple hubs to form a hierarchical star
topology.
§ The star topology uses the baseband signaling method.
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A SIMPLE STAR TOPOLOGY

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A HIERARCHICAL STAR TOPOLOGY

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RING TOPOLOGY

§ The ring topology can use twisted pair or fiber optic cabling.
§ A central device (hub) connects hubs and nodes to the
network.
§ Each node connects to its own dedicated port on the hub.
§ You can connect multiple hubs to form a larger ring.
§ The ring topology uses the baseband signaling method.
§ Frames are transmitted around the ring from node to hub
to node.
§ Media Access Control (MAC) is used for token passing.
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A RING NETWORK
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MESH TOPOLOGY

§ Typically uses fiber optic cabling for redundant

wide area network (WAN) links
§ Provides multiple paths to destinations for fault
tolerance
§ Supports baseband and broadband signals
§ Requires an enormous amount of cable
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LAN MESH
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ENTERPRISE MESH
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WIRELESS TOPOLOGY

§ Cell-based technology that uses unbounded media

§ Two wireless topologies:
§ Ad hoc
§ Infrastructure
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AD HOC WLAN
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INFRASTRUCTURE WLAN
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LAN CABLE TYPES

§ Three cable types are used in LANs:

§ Coaxial
§ Twisted pair
§ Fiber optic
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COAXIAL CABLE
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AUI (ATTACHMENT UNIT INTERFACE) CABLE

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THIN ETHERNET HARDWARE

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UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR (UTP) CABLE

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UTP CONNECTORS
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UTP CABLE GRADES

Category Frequency Primary Application

1 Up to 0 MHz Voice networks
2 Up to 1 MHz Voice and low-speed data
networks less than 4
Mbps

3 Up to 16 MHz Voice and data networks

from 4 to 100 Mbps

4 Up to 20 MHz 16-Mbps Token Ring

5 Up to 100 MHz 100-Mbps Fast Ethernet
5e Up to 100 MHz 1000-Mbps Gigabit
Ethernet

6 Up to 250 MHz 1000-Mbps Gigabit

Ethernet
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FIBER OPTIC CABLE

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STRAIGHT TIP (ST) CONNECTOR

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STRAIGHT THROUGH AND CROSSOVER

WIRING
§ Wiring within a twisted pair cable is configured as
either
§ Straight through, where each wire (or pin) is attached
to the same contact point at each end
§ Crossover, where transmit contacts on each end of
the cable are connected to the receive contact at the
other end
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STRAIGHT THROUGH WIRING

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CROSSOVER WIRING
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SUMMARY

§ The three basic LAN topologies are bus, star, and

ring. WLANs are becoming more popular. Mesh
networks are not typically used in LANs.
§ The primary cable types used in LANs are coaxial,
twisted pair, and fiber optic.