1. Telecommunications and Networking
Cabling Media
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Trade & Industrial Education

2. Objectives
Describe the physical characteristics of coaxial cable, STP, UTP, and fiber-optic media
Compare the benefits and limitations of different networking media
Identify wiring standards
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3. Coaxial cabling
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4. Basic Coaxial cable A central copper wire
Surrounded by an insulating material
Surrounded by a braided metal shield
Surrounded by a plastic jacket
Uses an F-type screw-on ‘barrel’ connector
Those little round ones that plug into the back of your cable/satellite box at home
Coax Ratings
Radio Grade (RG)
Developed by military
Ohm rating
Each cable is marked with an Ohm rating (measure of resistance)
Advantages of Coax
Extremely durable
Braided metal shield makes it resistant to EMI and RFI
Electromagnetic interference
Radiofrequency interference
Greater bandwidth
Disadvantages of Coax
High installation costs
Problems with architecture
Primarily used in a bus topology which does not support redundancy
Technicians must ensure that Ohm ratings on cables are compatible throughout the entire network or data loss and corruption will occur
"Coaxial cable cutaway" by Tkgd Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons –
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Trade & Industrial Education

5. Twisted Pair
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6. Basic Characteristics
Four pairs of wires twisted together
Eight wires total
The twists in the wire help reduce crosstalk - the greater the number of twists the more resistant the wire is to crosstalk
Uses an RJ-45 jack
Wires are color coded
Three basic IEEE standards for wiring
Two types of twisted pair
STP
UTP
Advantages of Twisted Pair Cabling
Inexpensive
Easy to splice
Thin and flexible
Less likely to cause interference
Disadvantages of Twisted Pair Cabling
More susceptible to interference
Somewhat fragile
Cables cannot be crimped around sharp edges
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7. Typical Twisted Pair Cable
The color of the outer jacket of the wire is not standardized, however; the color of the individual wires is standardized.
One of each pair of wires is a solid color while the other has a white stripe. Typical colors are:
Orange / Orange with white stripe
Blue / Blue with white stripe
Green / Green with white stripe
Brown / Brown with white stripe
RJ-45 Connector
Standard Twisted Pair Cable
Standard Twisted Pair Cable – Used with permission R. Segrest 06/10/15
RJ-45 Connector – Used with permission R. Segrest 06/10/15
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8. IEEE TP Wiring Standards
Straight-through
Used to connect networked devices (hosts to clients)
Crossover
Direct connection of two devices (computer to computer)
Rollover
Used to create an interface with a device in order to program it (programmable switches)
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9. Straight Through Wiring
Connector A Connector B
Pin 1 Pin 1
Pin 2 Pin 2
Pin 3 Pin 3
Pin 4 Pin 4
Pin 5 Pin 5
Pin 6 Pin 6
Pin 7 Pin 7
Pin 8 Pin 8
568-B Straight Through
There is a 568-A standard however most networks utilize the 568-B
The wiring is identical on each end of the cable
Straight-Thru – Used with permission R. Segrest 06/10/25
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10. Crossover Cables
Connector A Connector B
Pin 1 Pin 3
Pin 2 Pin 6
Pin 3 Pin 1
Pin 4 Pin 4
Pin 5 Pin 5
Pin 6 Pin 2
Pin 7 Pin 7
Pin 8 Pin 8
568-B Crossover The wiring is different on each end of the cable
Crossover – Used with permission R. Segrest 06/10/25
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11. Two Types of TP Cable STP – Shielded Twisted Pair
Has a inner shield to help protect from EMI and crosstalk
UPT – Unshielded Twisted Pair
Does not have an inner shield
Most common
EMI – Electro-magnetic Interference
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12. Bandwidth
Maximum amount of data that will go through a cable per second
Measured in MHz and translated to Mbps
100MHz originally = 100 Mbps
Now with bandwidth-efficient encoding
Cat5e at 100MHz = 1,000 Mbps
Cat 6 at 250 MHz = 10,000 Mbps
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13. UTP Categories Designation Bandwidth Typical Usage Cat 1 Up to 1 Mbps
Traditional Telephone and ISDN
Cat 2
Up to 4 Mbps
Token Ring
Cat 3
Up to 10 Mbps
Token Ring and 10Base-T
Cat 4
Up to 16 Mbps
Cat 5
Up to 100 Mbps
Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Token Ring
Cat 5(e)
Up to 1000 Mbps
Gigabit Ethernet
Cat 6
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14. Ethernet
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15. Ethernet Facts
There are only four Ethernet speeds: 10 megabit, 100 megabit, 1 gigabit, and 10 gigabit per second
Every version of Ethernet uses either unshielded twisted pair (UTP) or fiber-optic. (with a few rare exceptions)
Every version of Ethernet uses a hub or switch, although hubs are incredibly rare today.
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16. Ethernet Facts contd.
Only 10- and 100-megabit Ethernet may use a hub. Gigabit and 10 Gigabit Ethernet networks must use a switch
Every version of Ethernet has a limit of 1024 nodes
Every UTP version of Ethernet has a maximum distance from the switch or hub to the node of 100 meters.
Full Duplex and Half Duplex
Half-duplex
Can both send and receive data but not at the same time
Full-duplex
Devices send and receive at the same time
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17. 100 Mbps Ethernet -100BaseT 100BaseT4 100BaseTX
CAT 3 or better cabling
Uses all four pair of wires
Disappeared from the market after 100BaseTX generally accepted
100BaseTX
Dominant 100-megabit standard by the late 1990s
The term “100BaseT” now applies to this standard
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18. Fiber-optic
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19. Fiber-Optic Basics Transmits data using light Has four components
Core – glass fibers
Cladding – reflects signals down the fiber
Buffer – gives strength
Insulating jacket – protects inner components
Often used in pairs
One for sending and the other for receiving
Advantages of Fiber Optics
Immunity to EMI
Data security
Non-conductive cabling (no copper)
High bandwidth over long distances
Disadvantages of Fiber Optics
High cost
Difficult to splice and repair
Easily damaged if pinched too hard
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20. Two Types of Fiber-Optics
Single-Mode
Better at maintaining the integrity of each light pulse over long distances
More expensive
Data rates of 10 Gbps – 40 Gbps
Multimode
Most commonly used for short distances
Data rates of 10 Mbps – 10 Gbps
Two Possible Light Sources
Lasers
Single-mode
Prevents modal distortion
High transfer rates
LEDs
Light Emitting Diodes
Multimode
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21. Three Styles of Connectors
Bayonet-style – similar in design to barrel connector used in coax SC
Push-in – similar to bayonet however connector casing is square instead of round LC
Duplex – small dual push-in used when running fiber-optic cables in pairs
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22. Other Types of Data Transmission
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23. Other Types of Data Transmission
T-Carrier
ISDN
FDDI
DSL
Broadband Cable
T-Carrier - A T-carrier or telecommunications carrier system is a cabling and interface system designed to carry data at high speeds.
Two Most Common T-Carrier systems
T1: It is considered Mbps, but only Mbps of that is for data.
T3: Stands for trunk Carrier 3.
Equivalent of 28 T1s. It is considered Mbps, using Kbps B channels.
ISDN
The Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a digital technology developed to combat the limitations of PSTN.
Users that have ISDN can send data, fax, or talk on the phone, all simultaneously from one line.
FDDI
Fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) is a standard for transmitting data on optical fiber cables at a rate of around 100 Mbps.
Uses ring topology.
DSL - Digital subscriber line (DSL) is a family of technologies that provides data transmissions over local telephone networks.
ADSL (asymmetrical digital subscriber lines) can run on your home telephone line so that you can talk on the phone and access the Internet at the same time.
SDSL (symmetrical digital subscriber line) is installed (usually to companies) as a separate line and is more expensive. The upload and download speed are the same or symmetrical.
Broadband Cable - is used for cable Internet and cable TV.
Operates at a higher speed than DSL.
Can usually get up to an average of 5 to 7 Mbps.
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