Connecting through

a cabled network
Communication media Types
Basic Communication media types
Coaxial Cable
Twisted – Pair Cable
Fiber- Optic Cable
Hybrid Fiber/Coax
Wireless Technologies
Factors affecting capabilities
and limitations of a medium
 Data transfer speed
 Use in a specific network topologies
 Distance Requirements
 Cable and cable components costs
 Additional network equipment that might be requires
 Flexibility and ease of installation
 Immunity to interference from outside sources
 Upgrade options
 Security
Types of transmission
 Baseband Transmission- the entire channel
capacity of the cable medium is used by one
data signal
 Broadband Transmission- Employs
several transmission channels on a single
communications medium
Backbone Cabling- a cable that runs between network
equipment rooms, floors and buildings and is often used
to link network devices, such as linking switch between
floors and buildings.

Bandwidth- the capacity of the channel to transmit data

in terms of given speed (e.g. 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps.
- the transmission capacity of communications
medium, which is typically measured in bits per
second(for data transmissions) or hertz (for data, voice
and video transmissions)
COAXIAL CABLE (COAX)
 Thick Coax- (thickwire/thicknet) (RG-8 cable)- 0.4 inch diameter
Maximum cable segment length = 500 meters 10base5
Where 10 indicates cable transmission rate is 10Mbps
base means baseband
5 indicates 500 meters for the longest cable run
 Thin Coax- (Thinnet/cheapernet) (RG-58A/U)- 0.2 inch diameter
Maximum cable segment length = 185(prior to 1990 it was 200 meters)
10base2
 THICK COAX CABLE
Property Ethernet Specification
Impedance(Resistance + Reactance) 50 ohms
Maximum Length 500 meters (approx. 1,650ft)
Maximum number of taps into the cable 100 including terminators
Minimum distance between taps 2.5 meters (approx. 8.25 ft)
Maximum AUI(Attachment Unit Interface) 50 meters(approx. 165 ft)for thick AUI and
cable length 12.5 meters(approx. 41.25 ft) for office grade
AUI
Maximum Speed 10 Mbps
Band Type Baseband
Maximum number of connected segments Five
Maximum number of segments containing Three
nodes
Maximum number of repeaters(times the Four
signal is amplified and Retimed)
Maximum total length via repeaters 2500 meters(approx. 1.5 miles)
 THIN COAX CABLE
Property Ethernet Specification
Impedance(Resistance + Reactance) 50 ohms
Maximum Length 185 meters (approx. 610.5ft)
Maximum number of taps into the cable 30 including terminators
Minimum distance between taps .5 meters (approx. 1.65 ft)
Maximum Speed 10 Mbps
Band Type Baseband
Maximum number of connected segments Five
Maximum number of segments Three
containing nodes
Maximum number of repeaters(times the Four
signal is amplified and Retimed)
Maximum total length via repeaters 925 meters(approx. 3052.5ft)
TWISTED - PAIR CABLE
- is a flexible communications cable that
contains pairs of insulated copper wire
w/c are twisted together for reduction of
Electromagnetic Interference(EMI)/
Radio Frequency Interference(RFI).
Maximum run= 100 meters (330ft)
Up to 10Gbps high speed
 SHIELDED TWISTED PAIR
CABLE
Braided Shielding - used for indoor
wiring
Corrugated Shielding – used for outside
or underground wiring
UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR
CABLE
Category 3 – 10 to 16Mbps
Category 4 – 20Mbps
10BaseT - 10Mbps, baseband, twisted pair
Category 5 – 100Mbps
Category 5e – 1Gbps
Category 6 – 1Gbps
Category 6a – an improvement over category 6 operates at 500MHz
Category 7 – operates at 600MHz
Category 7a – 40- 100Gbps, Operates at up to 1000MHz
 ETHERNET TWISTED-PAIR
CABLE
Twisted pair as defined in the EIA/TIA-568STANDARD
Shielding Maximum Transmission Rate
specifications for horizontal and Backbone
Cable
Category 3 UTP 16 Mbps

Category 4 UTP 20 Mbps

Category 5 UTP 100 Mbps

Category 5e UTP 1Gbps (for assured handling of Gigabit

Ethernet)
Category 6 UTP 1Gbps (for assured handling of Gigabit
Ethernet)
Category 6a UTP 10 Gbps

Category 6e UTP 10 Gbps

Category 7 UTP 10 Gbps

Category 7a STP 10 Gbps(used in Ethernet, Telephone and

Cable TV applications)
10BASET(AND IN GENERAL 100BASEX)
Property
STP ETHERNET SPEC.
Ethernet Specification

Maximum length of one segment 100 meters (approx. 330feet)

Maximum number of nodes per segment Two nodes

Minimum distance between nodes 3 meters (approx. 9.9feet)

Maximum number of segments 1024

Maximum number of segments w/ nodes 1024

Maximum number of daisy – chained Four

hubs
impedance 150 ohms
10BASET(AND IN GENERAL 100BASEX)
Property
UTP ETHERNET SPEC.
Ethernet Specification

Maximum length of one segment 100 meters (approx. 330feet)

Maximum number of nodes per segment Two nodes

Minimum distance between nodes 3 meters (approx. 9.9feet)

Maximum number of segments 1024

Maximum number of segments w/ nodes 1024

Maximum number of daisy – chained Four

hubs
impedance 100 ohms
 FIBER OPTIC CABLE
- consist one or more glass or plastic fiber cores encase
in a glass tube, called cladding surrounded by a PVC
(Polyvinyl Chloride).
Three commonly used fiber-optic cable sizes
 50/125-micron(µm)- has a core diameter of 50
microns and a cladding diameter of 125 microns.
 62.5/125 microns
 100/140 microns
Transmission speed = 100Mbps to over 100Gbps
 EIA/TIA-568-B SPEC. FOR SINGLE
MODE
Property
FIBER-OPTIC CABLE
Value or Characteristic

Maximum length of one backbone 3000 meters (approx. 1.88miles)

segment
Maximum length of one horizontal Not recommended for horizontal
wiring
segment (to the desktop)
Maximum number of nodes per segment Two

Maximum attenuation Less than 0.5db/km

Cable types 8.3/125 micron

Connector ST,SC,LC or MT-RJ connetcors

 EIA/TIA-568-B SPEC. FOR MULTIMODE
Property FIBER-OPTICValueCABLE
or Characteristic

Maximum length of one backbone segment 2000 meters (approx. 1.25miles)

Maximum length of one horizontal segment (to 100meters (approx. 330 feet)
the desktop)
Maximum number of nodes per segment Two

Maximum attenuation 3.75db/km for transmission w/ a wavelength of

850nm; 1.5db/km for transmission at 1300nm
Maximum number of segments 1024
Maximum number of segments 1024
Four
Maximum number of daisy-chained hubs
Cable types 62.5/125 micron

Connector ST,SC,LC or MT-RJ connectors

CONNECTING COMPUTERS TO A
CABLED NETWORK
A network Interface Card (NIC) is what enables a
computer or network device to connect to a cabled
network.

Four Components of Network Connections:

 An appropriate connector for the network medium
 Hardware and protocol firmware and drivers
 A controller to support the MAC sublayer of the
DataLink Layer
NIC Connector- Designed for a
specific type of medium
The Role of Firmware and NIC
Drivers- a software that is stored
on a programmable chip on the
NIC circuit board