Twisted pair cable, fiber optic cable and coaxial cable are
three major types of network cables used in modern communication systems. These
cables mainly differ from one another in terms of latency, speed of data
transfer and overall security.
What Is Twisted Pair Cable?
Twisted pair cable
is a type of cable in which two independently insulated conductors of a single
circuit are twisted together for the purposes of reducing crosstalk and electromagnetic
induction. There are two types of twisted pair cables: Shielded and unshielded twisted pair cable. Shielded Twisted pair
cable has a fine wire mesh surrounding the wires to protect the transmission
whereas Unshielded Twisted Pair Cable is not surrounded by a fine mesh. Twisted Pair cable is used by older telephone
networks and is the least expensive type of local area network (LAN) cable.
Twisted Pair Cable
What You Need To
Know About Twisted Cable
Twisted Pair cable is a kind of wiring in which
two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together. A pair of wires forms
a circuit that can transmit data.Common types of twisted pair Ethernet cable
include: Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) and Shielded Twisted Pair (STP). Transmission of signals takes place in the
electrical form over metallic conducting wire.Twisted pair cable can be affected due to
external magnetic field.Twisted pair cable is made up of a pair of
insulated copper wire.Twisted pair cables are comparatively low in
price when compared to both Coaxial and Fiber optical cables.Though twisted pair cables is designed to reduce
noise from outside sources, it is usually not effective in rejecting this noise
(noise is unwanted electrical or electromagnetic energy that degrades the
quality of signals and data).Attenuation is very high.Installation and implementation of twisted pair
cables is simple and easy.Low Bandwidth.The security of transmitted signal is not
guaranteed.Twisted pair cables are generally used in
telephone networks, data networks and cable shielding.Twisted pair cable can transmit television,
telephone and data at a relatively low speed when compared to fiber optical
cable.Twisted pair cables are copper-based wire
surrounded by insulation with other materials. Therefore they are larger in
diameter than fiber optical cables.Twisted pair cables are heavier in weight when
compared to fiber optical cables.Loss is also another factor that can
differentiate between coaxial, fiber optical and twisted pair cables. Loss is
defined by decibels per unit length and at a given frequency. Thus, the longer
the coaxial cable, the greater the loss. Some of the loss that occurs in
twisted pair cables include: Resistive loss, Dielectric loss, Radiated loss and
Loss over time.
Coaxial cable,
also referred to as coax cable is
designed to transmit high-frequency signals. It is a type of copper cable
specially built with a metal shield and other components engineered to block
signal interference. It differs from other shielded cables because the
dimension of the cable and connectors are controlled to give a precise,
constant conductor spacing, which is needed for it to function efficiently as a
transmission line.
Coaxial cable is primarily used in telephone trunk-lines,
broadband internet networking cables, high speed computer data busses, carrying
cable television signals and connecting radio transmitters and receivers to
their antennas.
Coaxial Cable
What You Need To
Know About Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable is designed to transmit
high-frequency signals. It is comprised of a round copper conductor and three
layers of insulation and shielding which prevents crosstalk from motors,
lighting and other sources of EMI.Common types of Coaxial cable mostly used in
residential applications include: RG59 and RG6.Coaxial cable is used to transmit signal in
electrical form over the inner conductor of the cable.Coaxial cable is less affected due to external
magnetic field. Coaxial cable is made up of four components
moving from inside to the outside: a solid conductor wire, a layer of
insulation, a grounding conductor and a layer of exterior insulation.The cost of coaxial cables is higher than that
of twisted pair cables.Due to its fabrication, coaxial cables are
relatively good at rejecting noise when compared to twisted pair cables.Attenuation is low.Installation and implementation of coaxial cable
is relatively difficult due to the dielectric insulator around the core copper
in coaxial cable.Moderately high bandwidth.The security of transmitted signal is not
guaranteed.Coaxial cables are used in feedlines connecting
radio transmitters and receivers with their antennas, computer network
(Internet) connections, digital audio (S/PDIF) and distributing cable
television signals. They are also used in for high-definition media interface
connections.Coaxial cable can transmit television, telephone
and data at a relatively low speed when compared to fiber optical cable.Coaxial cables are copper-based wire surrounded
by insulation with other materials. Therefore they are larger in diameter than
fiber optical cables.Coaxial cables are heavier in weight when
compared to fiber optical cables.Some of the loss that occurs in coaxial cables
include: Resistive loss, Dielectric loss and Radiated loss.
What Is Fiber Optic Cable?
A fiber optic cable
also referred to as optical fiber cable
is a network cable that contains strands of glass fibers inside an insulated
casing. All optical fibers use a core of hair-like transparent silicon covered
with less refractive indexed cladding to avoid light leakage to the
surroundings. They are designed for long distance, high-performance data
networking and telecommunications. Fiber optic cable can be categorized into
Single mode fiber (SMF) and Multimode fiber (MMF). Single-mode fiber uses
extremely thin glass strands and a laser to generate light while Multi-mode
optical cable uses LEDs. Due to the extreme sensitivity of the optical fiber,
it is usually covered with a high-strength, lightweight protective material
likes Kevlar.
Fiber Optic Cable
What You Need To
Know About Fiber Optic Cable
Fiber optic cable is a type of Ethernet cable
which consist of one or more optic fibers that are used to transmit data.Fiber optic cable can be categorized into Single
mode fiber (SMF) and Multimode fiber (MMF).Fiber optic cable transmits data as pulses of
light go through tiny tubes of glass (Signal transmission takes place in light
forms over a glass fiber).Fiber optical cable is never affected due to
external magnetic field.Optical cables are made up of very thin optical
fibers bundled together into a single cable. The fibers can be made of glass or
plastic.In general, fiber optic cable is more expensive
than copper cable due to its high performance and capacity.Optical fiber has highest noise immunity as the
light rays are unaffected by the electrical noise.Attenuation is very much low.Installation and implementation of optical fiber
is difficult. This is due to the fact that they are thin and fragile and
therefore requires more care in installation.They have very high bandwidth when compared to
coaxial and twisted pair cables; in this regard fiber optical cable offers a
big benefit in terms of the flexibility of the bandwidth and reliability.There is increased security in fiber-optic
technology and therefore it is hard to tap fiber-optic cables without also
disrupting the system.Fiber optic cables are installed to support long
distance connections between countries and cities. They are also used in data
centers where large volume of data needs to be transmitted. Fiber optical cable can transmit television,
telephone and data at a relatively faster speed when compared to twisted pair
and coaxial cable.Fiber optical fiber cable is made of very thin,
pliable tubes of glass or plastic and therefore it is small in diameter.Optical fiber cable is lighter in weight when
compared to twisted pair and coaxial cables.Some of the loss that occurs in fiber optical
cable include: Dispersion, bending, absorption and attenuation.
16 Difference
Between Twisted Pair, Coaxial Cable And Fiber Optic Cable In Tabular Form