Copper Cables and Connectors

Question 1

What are the three relevant types of networking cables?

Answer 1

Coaxial.
Twisted Pair.
Fiber Optic.

Question 2

Which Cables use which communication medium?

Answer 2

Coaxial. Electricity.
Twisted Pair. Electricity.
Fiber Optic. Light.

Question 3

What are Coaxial Cables? What are they used for?

Answer 3

They are constructed usually of copper or aluminum.
It s used by both cable televsion companies and satelliete communication networks.
It is enclosed in a sheath or jacket and can be terminated by a variety of connectors.

Question 4

What are the connector types of Coaxial Cables?

Answer 4

BNC.
N Type.
F Type.

Question 5

What are the advantages and disadvantages of Coaxial in comparison to UTP?

Answer 5

Coaxial has improved shielding, leaving it with a hgiher signal-to-noise ratio allowing for it to carry more data.
It loses out in LANs in comparison to UTP however, as it is harder to install, costs more and is more difficult to troubleshoot.

Question 6

What is the structure of Twisted Pair Cabling?

Answer 6

Copper Wiring.
Colour Coded Plastic Insulation.
Outer Jacket.

Question 7

What is the structure of Twisted Pair Cabling?

Answer 7

Copper Wiring.
Colour Coded Plastic Insulation.
Foil Shields.
Braided or Foil Shields.
Outer Jacket.

Question 8

Why is cabling twisted in Twisted Pair wiring?

Answer 8

To prevent crosstalk between wires.

Crosstalk is the noise generated by adjacent pairs of wires in the cable.

Question 9

What are the two forms of TP?

Answer 9

UTP and STP.
Unshield Twisted Pair.
Shielded Twisted Pair.

Question 10

What is UTP vulnerable to?

Answer 10

Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) and Radio Frequency Interference (RFI).
EMI and RFI can be caused by a variety of sources including electric motors and fluorescent lights.

Question 11

What are TP cabels terminated by?

Answer 11

RJ-45/RJ-11 connectors. RJ-45 for networks.
STP use special RJ-45 connectors to gain the full benfit of shielding. If the cable is not properly grounded, then the shield may act as an antenna and pick up unwanted signlas.

Question 12

What are the categories of TP?

Answer 12

Cat 5 UTP.
Cat 5e UTP.
Cat 6 UTP.

Question 13

What are the specifications of Cat 5 UTP?

Answer 13

100 Mb/s at 100 MHz.
First widely adopted 4 pair UTP that replaced Cat 3 UTP.
HIgher standard that Cat 3 to allow for higher data transfer rates.

Question 14

What are the specifications of Cat 5e UTP?

Answer 14

1 Gb/s at 100 MHz
HIgher standard that Cat 5 to allow for higher data transfer rates.
More twists per foot than Cat 5 to prevent more EMI and RFI.

Question 15

What are the specifications of Cat 6 UTP?

Answer 15

1 Gb/s at 250 MHz.

Higher standards and more twists than Cat 5e.

Question 16

What are the specifications of Cat 6 UTP?

Answer 16

1 Gb/s at 250 MHz. (500 MHz at 6a)
Higher standards and more twists than Cat 5e.
May have plastic divider to prevent EMI and RFI.
Good for those requiring large bandwidth.
6a has better insulation and perfromance than 6.

Question 17

What areplenium ratings?

Answer 17

Plenium rating, is plenium cabling.
This is installed in any area used for ventilation. Between cieling and dropped cieling. Thye retard fire and produce less smoke.

Question 18

What are the two TP wiring schemes?

Answer 18

T568A.

T568B.

Question 19

What is the T568A scheme?

Answer 19

W/G
G
W/O
Bl
W/Bl
O
W/B
B

Question 20

What is the T568B scheme?

Answer 20

W/O
O
W/G
BL
W/BL
G
W/B
B