Network Cables and connectors
Networking cables are used to connect one network device to another.
Cables
There are different types of cables. These include twisted pair, coaxial
Fibre optic and telephone cable.
Twisted pair ,
It is the most widely used medium for telecommunication. Twised-pair
cabling consist of copper wires that are twisted into pairs. Ordinary
telephone wires consist of two insulated copper wires twisted into The use
of two wires twisted together helps to reduce crosstalk induction. Two
types of twisted pair are Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) and Unshielded
Twisted Pair (UTP). Shielded twisted pair has a foil wrapped around the
wires, but unshielded twisted pair does not.
Coaxial
It is widely used for cable television systems, office buildings, and work-
sites for local area networks. The cables consist of copper aluminum wire
surrounded by an insulating layer (typically a flexible material with a high
dielectric constant), which itself is surrounded by a conductive layer. The
insulation helps minimize interference and distortion. Transmission speed
ranges from 200 million bits per second to more than 500 million bits per
second.
Fibre Optic Cable
Fibre optic cable is made of light conducting glass or plastic fibre. It
consists of a centre glass core surrounded by several layers of protective,
material. The outer insulating jacket is made of Teflon or Polyvinyl Chloride
(PVC). The fibre optic cable transmits light rather than electronic signals
thereby eliminating electric interferences. It uses pulses of light to transmit
data. Some advantages of optical fibre over metal wires are less
transmission loss, immunity from electromagnetic radiation, and very fast
transmission
Speed up to trillions of bits per second. One can use different colours of
lights to increase the number of messages being sent over a fibre optic
cable. It also supports very high bandwidths.
Telephone Wires
Telephone wires and cables connect your line phones to communication
web. It is made up of copper wire or aluminum. This wire runs from your
home TO a central junction then to the telephone exchange.
Network Connectors
Network connectors are devices used to terminate network cables.
RJ45
It is a standard type of connector for network cables RJ45 are mostly
seen with Ethernet cables (CAT 6). RJ45 connectors feature 8 pins to
which the wire strands of a cable interface electrically. RJ stands for
Registered ack .
RJ11
It is a connector used for telephone cable termination. They are smaller
and narrow than RJ45. They have 4 pins.
T-Connectors
M is .m electrical connector that connects three cables together. It is
usually in the shape of capital T. It is usually used for coaxial cables and
liner connecting points can either be female or male could be different or
same standard. They can be used to split radio frequency power from a
cable into two.
Computer Cables
Basically we have two types of computer cable namely the power ct and the data
cable. Data cables are used to connect computers and other peripherals. These
peripherals are printers, speakers, monitors others. Data cables could be parallel
serial and universal serial bus (USB) cables.
Power cables
Power cable is an assembly of two or more electrical conductors usually held
together with an overall sheath. Power cables are used to electric power to
electronic devices. Flexible power cables are used portable devices such as
mobile tools and machinery.’
Printer Cable.
Printer cables are of different types. The types are serial, parallel, and
USB. They are used to send data from the computer to the printer. Without
a printer cable, the printer cannot communicate computer. Most recently
manufactured printers use universal punter or infrared cables.
Monitor cables
Signal cables are used to send data from the central processing
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computer to the monitor or visual display unit.
Universal Serial Bus (USB) Cable
A USB cable is a standardized device for connecting computers, peripherals such 32 as
keyboard, mouse, digital cameras, scanners, printers, disk drives etc. Smart phones, video
game consoles, and other devices use USB cable for connection.
Serial Cable
Serial cable is used to transfer data between two devices using a serial connection port ,
Computer Connectors
Computer connectors are structured as either male or female.
Male Connector
Male connectors is a connector attached to a wire, cable or piece of hardware having one or
more exposed unshielded electrical terminals and constructed in a way it can be inserted in
a receptacle female electrical connection
Female Connector
Female is a connector attached to a wire, cable or piece of hardware having one or two
recessed holes.