Unit 2

Lesson 3 - Copper Cable

   Introduction

Transmission media connect the various components of a network to one another. Each type of transmission medium strongly influences the type and quality of signals it can carry.

Copper is a popular transmission medium because it is an excellent conductor of electricity. It is commonly available, fairly inexpensive, and easy to work with. Copper is also prone to signal interference, which can limit its transmission speed. However, fairly simple techniques and cable designs have largely corrected this problem, making copper cable the most popular medium for connecting both telephone systems and LANs.

There are two types of copper cable used in LANs:

Twisted pair cable is the most widely used medium.

Coaxial cable is found in older installations.

   Objectives

At the end of this lesson you should be able to:

1.

Describe the construction of coaxial and twisted pair cable

2.

Name the most popular type of copper cable and explain the reason for its popularity

3.

Explain the meaning of the terms "10Base5," "10Base2," and "10BaseT"

Key Point
Twisted pair is the most common type of copper cable used in networks.


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