Nowadays, communication depends significantly on the connection of a cable or wire to be effective. This is because it is done through electronic gadgets to send and receive information. The most popular types of cables used for communication today are coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, and twisted pair cable (Robertazzi, 2017). All of these cables could be used to facilitate network communication, thus requiring us to focus on their differences. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Unshielded Twisted Pair Cables This type of cable tends to be the most widely used since it is made up of just two wires insulated and twisted together. It is also used to make normal telephone cables and data communication cables. This type of cable is also considered the least expensive compared to other transmission media used for local area networks. It is easy to install and use. One of the disadvantages of unshielded twisted-pair cables is the vulnerability to electromagnetic interference. There are also other interferences such as noise and nearby twisted pairs present in the environment. To overcome this problem it is advisable to shield the twisted pair using a braid or a metal cover with the ability to reduce interference. UTP has various categories that vary based on transmission distances. For example, category 3 has a transmission characteristic of 16 MHZ, category 4 has 20 MHZ, and category 5 has 100 MHZ. As for bandwidth, this type of cable has lower bandwidth than fiber optic as it is less than 10 Gbps. . It has a lower cost per meter as it ranges from $4 to $6. UTP termination costs are easier today than before due to the improvement in technology which makes it less expensive. This can be seen when compared to fiber optics which is very difficult. However, conversion is difficult for this cable especially in the absence of media converters that facilitate the use of seamless connections. UTPs can transmit over long distances with the help of amplifiers and are used in telephone networks. Coaxial Cable This type of cable has two conductors just like twisted pair cable. However, it is built differently to facilitate operation on a variety of frequencies. It has a hollow conductor which is located on the outer side and is cylindrical in shape and surrounds an inner conductor. This cable has a diameter of 1cm or 2.5cm. It could be used over long distances and in many stations compared to twisted cable (Oliviero & Woodward, 2014). Coaxial cable is one of the most adaptable transmission media as it can be used in various ways. Therefore it is used in the diffusion of television, local networks, telephone transmissions over long distances and the connection of computers over short distances. One of the advantages of coaxial cable is that its frequency characteristics are greater than those of twisted pair. This makes it capable of being used at higher data rates and frequencies. Its protected concentric structure increases its ability to tolerate interference compared to twisted pair. The transmission from these cables occurs in analog or digital form. Therefore, this affects the transmission distance of the network as analogue spectrum varies up to around 50 MHZ while digital reaches around one kilometer but repeaters need to be used for every kilometer if the signals are intended to be transmitted over a significant distance. However, it is difficult to convert the signals transmitted by this cable, making it.
tags