Another important aspect of network hardware is the network transmission medium, commonly referred to as network cables. Currently, the most common types of network cables include thin twisted-pair cables, fiber optic cables, coaxial cables, and thick coaxial cables. An introduction to these three types will help you understand the differences.
1. Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic cable is a new-generation transmission medium. Compared to copper, it offers significant improvements in security, reliability, and network performance. Furthermore, fiber optic transmission bandwidth significantly exceeds copper cables, and it supports a maximum connection distance of over two kilometers, making it an ideal choice for building large-scale networks. While fiber optic cable offers advantages such as excellent electromagnetic interference resistance, strong confidentiality, high speed, and high transmission capacity, it is also relatively expensive and rarely used in homes. Currently, there are two common types of optical fiber: single-mode fiber and multimode fiber (the "mode" refers to the angle at which light enters the fiber). Multimode fiber is generally used for network connections within the same office building or within relatively close proximity. Single-mode optical fiber offers higher data transmission quality and longer transmission distances, and is commonly used to connect office buildings or geographically dispersed networks. Using optical fiber cable as the network transmission medium requires additional equipment such as optical transceivers, resulting in higher costs and less common use.
2. Twisted Pair Cable
Twisted pair cable is a flexible communications cable consisting of pairs of insulated copper wires. Its low cost makes it widely used, such as in common telephone lines. Based on its maximum transmission rate, twisted pair cables are categorized as Category 3, Category 5, and Category 5e. Category 3 offers a speed of 10 Mbps, Category 5 can reach 100 Mbps, and Category 5e reaches over 155 Mbps, making it suitable for future multimedia data transmission needs. Therefore, Category 5 or even Category 5e is recommended. Twisted pair cables are also categorized as shielded twisted pair (STP) and unshielded twisted pair (UTP). Although STP twisted-pair cable offers a lower data rate (only 4 Mbps), it is more resistant to interference than UTP, so it's significantly more expensive. Currently, this type of twisted-pair cable can cost just a few yuan per meter, while the more expensive ones can cost over ten yuan per meter. In comparison, UTP twisted-pair cable generally costs around one yuan per meter, making it relatively affordable. Furthermore, the commonly used 10m and 100m unshielded twisted-pair cables are popularly known as 10base-T and 100base-T, and are commonly found on the market. Twisted-pair cable is also accompanied by an RJ45 connector, which connects the twisted-pair cable to the RJ45 port on the network card. Its quality is directly related to the stability of the entire network and should not be underestimated.
3. Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable is a transmission medium that many people are familiar with. It consists of a central copper conductor surrounded by layers of insulated wire. Its greatest strengths are its excellent interference resistance, stable data transmission, and low price, which led to its widespread use in applications such as CCTV cables. While coaxial cable was previously widely used, primarily due to its lower cost for bus-structured networks, its greatest drawback is that damage to a single cable can paralyze the entire network, and maintenance is difficult. Coaxial cable used in Ethernet applications is primarily divided into thick coaxial cable (10base5) and thin coaxial cable (10base2). While thick coaxial cable is less common today, thin coaxial cable still has a market share. Thin coaxial cable generally sells for a few yuan per meter, making it relatively affordable. Furthermore, coaxial cable is designed to connect to BNC connectors, and commercially available coaxial cables are typically pre-wired with BNC connectors, making them readily available for immediate use.
