In many cases, Computer Networks fail because of inferior infrastructure in the form of poor Cabling and below standards connectivity.
We recommend that when considering data communications, equipment standards and professional installation is considered paramount to avoid long term recurring issues. Especially considering that, Networks outlast most office equipment including workstations and servers, and still only constitute 5% of the spend.
Another primary advantage of structured cabling is fault isolation. By dividing the entire infrastructure into simple manageable blocks, it is easy to test and isolate the specific points of fault and correct them with minimal disturbance to the network. A structured approach in cabling helps reduce maintenance costs too.
Building entrance facilities provide the point at which outside cabling interfaces with the
Inter building backbone cabling. The physical requirements of the network interface are defined in the EIA/TIA-569 standard.
The design aspects of the equipment room are specified in the EIA/TIA-569 standard. Equipment rooms usually house equipment of higher complexity than telecommunication closets. An equipment room may provide any or all of the functions of a telecommunications closet.
The backbone cabling provides interconnection between telecommunications closets, equipment rooms and entrance facilities. It consists of the backbone cables, intermediate and main cross connects, mechanical terminations and patch cords or jumpers used for backbone-to-backbone cross-connection.
A telecommunications closet is the area within a building that houses the telecommunications cabling system equipment. This includes the mechanical terminations and/or cross-connect for the horizontal and backbone cabling system.
The horizontal cabling system extends from the telecommunications outlet in the work area to the horizontal cross-connect in the telecommunications closet. It includes the telecommunications outlet, an optional consolidation point or transition point connector, horizontal cable, and the mechanical terminations and patch cords (or jumpers) that comprise the horizontal cross-connect.
The telecommunications outlet serves as the work area interface to the cabling system. Some Specifications related to work area cabling include:
Equipment cords are assumed to have the same performance as patch cords of the same type and category.
When used, adapters are assumed to be compatible with the transmission capabilities of the Equipment to which they connect.
Horizontal cable lengths are specified with the assumption that a maximum cable Length of 3m (10ft)
There are three types of network cables; coaxial, twisted-pair, and fiber-optic.
Twisted-pair cables
The twisted-pair cable was primarily developed for computer networks. This cable is also known as Ethernet cable. Almost all modern LAN computer networks use this cable.
This cable consists of color-coded pairs of insulated copper wires. Every two wires are twisted around each other to form pair. Usually, there are four pairs. Each pair has one solid color and one stripped color wire. Solid colors are blue, brown, green and orange. In stripped color, the solid color is mixed with the white color.
Based on how pairs are stripped in the plastic sheath, there are two types of twisted-pair cable; UTP and STP.
In the UTP (Unshielded twisted-pair) cable, all pairs are wrapped in a single plastic sheath.
In the STP (Shielded twisted-pair) cable, each pair is wrapped with an additional metal shield, then all pairs are wrapped in a single outer plastic sheath.
Similarities and differences between STP and UTP cables
The following image shows both types of twisted-pair cable.
The TIA/EIA specifies standards for the twisted-pair cable. First standards were released in 1991, known as TIA/EIA 568. Since then, these standards have been continually revised to cover the latest technologies and developments of the transmission media.
The TIA/EIA 568 divides the twisted-pair cable into several categories. The following table lists the most common and popular categories of the twisted-pair cable.
| Category / name of the cable | Maximum supported speed | Bandwidth/support signals rate | Ethernet standard | Description |
| Cat 6 | 10Gbps | 250MHz | 10GBASE-T Ethernet | This cable uses a plastic core to prevent cross-talk between twisted-pair. It also uses a fire-resistant plastic sheath. |
| Cat 6a | 10Gbps | 500MHz | 10GBASE-T Ethernet | This cable reduces attenuation and cross-talk. This cable also potentially removes the length limit. This is the recommended cable for all modern Ethernet LAN networks. |
| Cat 7 | 10Gbps | 600MHz | Not drafted yet | This cable sets a base for further development. This cable uses multiple twisted-pairs and shields each pair by its own plastic sheath. |
• Cat 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are outdated and not used in any modern LAN network.
• Cat 7 is still a new technology and not commonly used.
• Cat 5e, 6, 6a are the commonly used twisted-pair cables.
This cable consists of core, cladding, buffer, and jacket. The core is made from the thin strands of glass or plastic that can carry data over the long distance. The core is wrapped in the cladding; the cladding is wrapped in the buffer, and the buffer is wrapped in the jacket.
Fiber optic cable is completely immune to EMI and RFI. This cable can transmit data over a long distance at the highest speed. It can transmit data up to 40 kilometers at the speed of 100Gbps.
Fiber optic uses light to send data. It reflects light from one endpoint to another. Based on how many beams of light are transmitted at a given time, there are two types of fiber optical cable; SMF and MMF.
This cable carries only a single beam of light. This is more reliable and supports much higher bandwidth and longer distances than the MMF cable. This cable uses a laser as the light source and transmits 1300 or 1550 nano-meter wavelengths of light.
This cable carries multiple beams of light. Because of multiple beams, this cable carries much more data than the SMF cable. This cable is used in shorter distances. This cable uses an LED as the light source and transmits 850 or 1300 nano-meter wavelengths of light.
That’s all for this tutorial. In the next part of this article, we will understand the types of connectors that are used to connect cables with networking devices. If you like this tutorial, please don’t forget to share it with friends through your favorite social channel.
