04 Mar Network Cabling standards
WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF NETWORK CABLING STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS?
If you’re looking to connect two or more computers or any other type of networking device, then you’ll need to use network cabling. Network cabling standards differ in type based upon how the cabling is constructed, and which types of metals and wires are used.
Below you will find the different types of network cabling standards as well as their specifications and how they are used.
Coaxial Cables
Coaxial cables are made up of a conductor, insulator, braiding, and sheath where the sheath covers the braiding and the braiding covers the insulation and the insulation covers the conductor. This type of cable comes in both single-core coaxial cables and multi-core coaxial cables, meaning that the single-core uses one central conductor while the multi-core uses multiple thing conductors.
Twisted-Pair Cables
Twisted-pair cables consist of color-coded pairs of insulated copper wires, where every two wires are twisted around each other to form a pair. Typically there are four pairs of twisted-pair cables and each pair has one solid color and one striped color wire. The solid colors are blue, brown, green, and orange and the striped color is white mixed with the solid color. There are two types of twisted-pair cables, UTP (unshielded
twisted-pair) and STP (shielded twisted-pair) where UTP has all wires wrapped in a single sheath and STP has each pair wrapped with an additional metal shield.
Fiber-Optic Cables
Fiber-optic cables are compiled of core, cladding, buffer, and jacket. The core is usually made up of thin strands of glass or plastic that have the ability to carry data over a long distance. The cladding wraps the core, then the buffer wraps the cladding and the jacket wraps the buffer.
Cabling Specifications
The various types of network cabling are used in different ways based upon how they transfer data, the size and speed of how the data can be transferred, and how much can be transmitted. Coaxial cables have been in use for over 40 years and were specifically built for computer networks. However, they have since been retired and are no longer used for computer network cabling at all but were heavily used in the ’80s and ’90s, but they are still used for other networking needs. Twisted pair cables are also referred to as ethernet cables, which is the name that most people know them by and they are used for almost all LAN computer networks. Fiber optic cables are ideal for carrying data over long distances and have become the primary network cabling option. While there are varying types of network cabling and specifications for each, they are all valuable in the way that they are able to transfer data and keep our computer networks functioning.
Philadelphia Network Data Cabling Installation And Service Areas
- Pennsylvania – Eastern, Including Harrisburg, Reading, Allentown and Philadelphia.
- Delaware
- New York City
- New Jersey
- National Travel