A Useful Guide on Different Network Cables

What are networking cables?

Networking cables are the cables which are used for connecting one network to another, or connecting two or more computers for sharing the same scanner, printer or any other devices. There are various types of network cables present such as Optical fiber cable, Coaxial cable and twisted pair networking cables.

Now, let’s have a look at all the types of network cables one by one:

Twisted pair

Twisted pair cables are the cables in which two different conductors are used, both the conductors are twisted together with a purpose of canceling the EMI or electromagnetic interference coming from external sources. Mainly this cable is used in corporate or home Ethernet networks. In twisted pair cable there is a pair of two copper insulated wires twisted over each other.

Optical fiber cable

An optical fiber is transparent, flexible fiber made up of pure glass (silica) which is as thick as human hair. Its function is to transmit light between the two ends of fiber. The optical fibers are widely used in fiber-optics communication which is used for transmission over long distances and also require high bandwidths for transmission. The use of fiber minimizes the loss of information during the transfer to a very low extent.

Coaxial cable

In coaxial cables the electromagnetic wave is transferred from inside the cable, it is transferred from the center conductor and the shield. The transmission of energy in it takes totally through the dielectrics inside it and between the conductors.  These cables can be twisted and can be bend in between the conductors without any negative effects. These are mainly used for transfer of signals for TV and at places where it needs to be high bandwidth transfer of multiple megahertz.

Patch cable

A Patch cable is an optical or electrical cable mainly used for connecting one optical or electronic device to other in the course of signal routing. These devices can be of any type ranging from switch to router or a switch connected to computer, these are connected with patch cords and it will work. Patch cords will give a very fast connection speed, they are manufactured in different colors so are also easy to distinguish, and the length of patch cords normally is not more than two meters.

CAT5e

CAT5e or category 5 cables is a twisted pair of cable used for carrying signals. This is mainly used in structured cabling for computer networks like Ethernet. It’s also used for carrying other signals such as video and telephony. This cable is commonly connected using modular connectors and punch down blocks. Most of the category 5 cables are unshielded and relay on the twisted pair of design and different signals for noise rejection.