Hardware 3.1 - Network Cables & Connectors Flashcards
three main types of physical cabling:
coaxial, twisted pair, and fiber-optic
Plenum rating can apply to all types of network cabling = coating does not produce toxic gas when burned
Coaxial
Coaxial cable (or coax) contains a center conductor core made of copper, which is surrounded by a plastic jacket with a braided shield over it.
Cable TV & cable modems; twists in eg f-type connector, bayonet, older RGs
*Less common, very slow
Twisted Pair Cable
Twisted pair is the most popular type of cabling to use because of its flexibility and low cost. It consists of several pairs of wire twisted around each other within an insulated jacket
Shielded (STP)& unshielded (UTP)
RJ-11 & RJ-45 connectors
STP vs UTP
STP has an extra layer of braided foil shielding to decrease electrical interference.
UTP (most common) has a PVC or plenum coating but no outer foil shield to protect it aka Ethernet cable
STP has been used less frequently, but the newer Cat 7 and Cat 8 standards rely on shielding and offer higher frequencies to deliver ultra-fast transmission speeds.
Twisted Pair Cable range specf for Cat 5-6a
Range = 100m (328 feet) or less
Cat 5, Cat 5e, Cat 6, and Cat 6a.
Cat 5
Cat 5
100 Mbps up to 100 meters
Cat 5e
Cat 5e
up to 1 Gbps
100m & better interference protection.
Cat 6
Cat 6
Up to 10Gbps only at 55m
* This is the lowest grade of cable you should ever use to connect different parts of a network together eg on different floors of a building.
Cat 6a
Cat 6a - 10 Gbps speed, up to 100 meters
Twisted Pair Connector Types
connector used with UTP cable is called RJ-45 (ethernet)
Most landline phones connect with an RJ-11
crimper
crimper is used to attach an RJ connector to a cable
punchdown block
Some twisted pair installations don’t use standard RJ-45 connectors. Instead, the cable is run to a central panel called a punchdown block, often located in a server room or connectivity closet. In a punchdown block, the metal wires are connected directly to the block to make the connection.
Instead of a crimper
T568A & B (Cat cables & RJ45 connectors)
T568A- oranges aren’t adjacent
T568B - greens aren’t
crossover - A on one side & B on the other
straight through - same on both
*when held next to each other, not facing
& most ethernet cables are B
crossover vs patch cable
to create a cable to connect a computer to another computer directly, or you’re going to make a connection from hub to hub, switch to switch, hub to switch, or a computer directly to a router, then you need what’s called a crossover cable. In a crossover cable, pin 1 to pin 3 and pin 2 to pin 6 are crossed on one side of the cable only. This is to get the “send” pins matched up with the “receive” pins on the other side, and vice versa.
The key thing to remember is that a patch (straight-through) cable is the same on both ends. A crossover cable is different on each end. You should know the order of the colors for both standards.
Direct Burial
situations where network cable needs to be run outside or buried underground. For these types of installations, use direct burial cable. Direct burial cable is STP with an extra waterproof sheathing
