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Experiment No: 2

AIM: Study of different types of network cables and practically implements

the cross- wired cable and straight through cable using clamping tool

Competency and Practical Skills: Identify different types of network cables and
Prepare own LAN Cable

Relevant CO: CO1: Familiarize with the basic taxonomy - terminologies used in
networking and the layered architecture of computer networks

Objectives: (a) To see and check various network Cables

(b) Find out usage of each in different case with advantage and disadvantage
(c) Prepare own cross-wired cable and straight through cable using
clamping tool.

Equipment/Instruments: RJ-45 connector, Clamping Tool, Twisted pair Cable

Theory

Study four different types of cables:

1. Coaxial Cable:
• A coaxial cable is an electrical cable with a copper conductor and an insulator shielding around it
and a braided metal mesh that prevents signal interference and cross talk.
• Coaxial cable is also known as coax.
• The term coaxial refers to the inner conductor and the outer shield
sharing ageometric axis.

(Figure-1: Coaxial Cable)

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➢ Structure of coaxial cable:

i. Copper conductor: A central conductor, which consists of copper. The conductor

is the point at which data transmits.

ii. Insulator: Dielectric plastic insulation around the copper conductor is used to
maintain the spacing between the center conductor and shield.

iii. Braided mesh: A braided mesh of copper helps to shield from electromagnetic
interference, the braid provides a barrier against EMI moving into
and out of the coaxial cable

iv. Protective plastic layer: An external polymer layer, which has a plastic coating.
It is usedto protect internal layers from damages.

➢ Types of coaxial cables:

• Hard line coaxial cable.
• Flexible coaxial cable.
• Semi-rigid coaxial cable.
• Formable coaxial cable.
• Rigid coaxial cable.
• Twin axial cable.
• Triaxial cable.

➢ Advantages:
1. Coaxial cables have better cut-through resistance so they are more reliable
anddurable.
2. Less affected by noise or cross-talk or electromagnetic inference.
3. Coaxial cables support multiple channels

➢ Disadvantages:
1. Coaxial cables are expensive.
2. The coaxial cable must be grounded in order to prevent any crosstalk.
3. As a Coaxial cable has multiple layers it is very bulky.

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2. Twisted Pair Cable:

• Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring used for communications in which two conductors of a
single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility.
• Twisted pair is the ordinary copper wire that connects home and business computers to the
telephone company.
• To reduce crosstalk or electromagnetic induction between pairs of wires, two insulated copper
wires are twisted around each other.
• Each connection on twisted pair requires both wires.

(Figure-2: TWISTED PAIR CABLE)

❖ Types of twisted pair cable

• Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cable:

➢ Shielded twisted pair (STP) is a special kind of copper telephone and local area network (LAN) wiring
used in some business installations.
➢ It adds an outer covering or shield that functions as a ground to ordinary twisted pair wiring.
➢ Unlike unshielded twisted pair (UTP), shielded twisted pair also encloses these wires in a shield and
grounds them to further reduce electromagnetic and radio frequency interference.
➢ STP cables are more expensive and harder to install than UTP wiring. Shielded twisted pair cabling acts
as a conducting shield by covering the four pairs of signal-carrying wires as a means to reduce
electromagnetic interference. There are a variety of different types of STP cables, such as a foil twisted
pair (FTP) and a shielded foil twisted pair (S/FTP).

(Figure-3: SHIELDED TWISTED PAIR (STP) CABLE )

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• Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cable

➢ UTP stands for “Unshielded Twisted Pair” cable, and it contains 100- ohm copper cable that has 2 to
1800 unshielded twisted pairs surrounded by an outer jacket.
➢ It has no any metallic shield, and helps to make small in diameter but does not provide better protection
appose to electrical interference.
➢ UTP cable has four pair of color - coded copper wires together and they are covered with flexible
plastic sheath.
➢ Due to twist of copper wire, it gets cancel electromagnetic interference from the external sources.
➢ Unshielded twisted pair cable does not contain any other extra shielding such as meshes or aluminum
foil, which are appended in bulk, are used.
➢ UTP cables do not implement any shielding to counter EMI and RFI effects.
➢ Unshielded twisted pair cable does not contain any other extra shielding such as meshes or aluminum
foil, which are appended in bulk, are used.
➢ UTP cables do not implement any shielding to counter EMI and RFI effects.

(Figure-4: UNSHIELDED TWISTED PAIR (UTP) CABLE)

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❖ Advantages:
1. Best performance in short distances.
2. High-cost performance
3. The twisted-pair cable is low in weight.
4. Twisted pair cable is flexible to use
5. Twisted Pair cable is easy to connect.
6. These cable are suitable for Data and voice infrastructure.
7. If portion of a twisted pair cable is broken it doesn’t effect the whole network.
8. Less vulnerable to electrical interference caused by nearby equipment or wires.

❖ Disadvantages:
1. It provides poor security and is relatively easy to tap.
2. As they a thin so can be easily breakable.
3. Low durability (must be maintained regularly).
4. It results signal distortion in a very effective manner.
5. Attenuation is very high.
6. It supports 10 mbps upto a distance of 100 meters on a 10BASE-T which are considered to be low
bandwidth.

❖ Applications:

1. Twisted Pair cables are used in telephone lines to provide data and voice channels.
2. The DSL lines make use of these cables.
3. Local Area Networks (LAN) also make use of twisted pair cables.
4. They can be used for both analog and digital transmission.
5. RJ-45 is a very common application of twisted pair cables.

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3. Fiber Optical Cable:

• An optical fiber cable which is also known as optic fiber cable is an assembly similar to an electrical
cable but containing one or more optical fibers that are used to carry light.
• The optical fiber elements are typically individually coated with plastic layers and contained in a
protective tube suitable for the environment where the cable is used.
• Different types of cable are used for optical communication in different applications, for example
long-distance telecommunication or providing a high-speed data connection between different parts
of a building.
• These cables are generally used as they have practically unlimited information.
• They have high carrying capacity and very low transmission loses.
• They do not dissipate heat.

(Figure-5: FIBER OPTICAL CABLE)

❖ Types of fiber optic cable:

• Single mode optic cable:

➢ In single-mode fiber, only one type of ray of light can propagate through the fiber.
➢ This type of fiber has a small core diameter (5um) and high cladding diameter (70um) and the
difference between the refractive index of core and cladding is very small.
➢ There is no dispersion - no degradation of the signal during traveling through the fiber.
➢ The light is passed through it through a laser diode. Modes define the way the wave travels
through space, i.e. how the wave is distributed in space.
➢ Waves can have the same mode but have different frequencies.
➢ This is the case in single-mode fibers, where we can have waves with different frequencies, but of
the same mode, which means that they are distributed in space in the same way, and that gives us a
single ray of light.
➢ Although the ray travels parallel to the length of the fiber, it is often called transverse mode since
its electromagnetic oscillations occur perpendicular (transverse) to the length of the fiber.

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(Figure-6: FIBER OPTICAL CABLE )

• Multimode optic cable:

➢ Multimode fiber cables are the type of fiber cables that transmit data via their core of larger
diameters enable an average, single-mode transceiver multiple modes of light to propagate
through it.
➢ However, this limits the maximum length of transmission links possible due to modal dispersion.
➢ These fibers are thus used for the short-distance transmission of signals.
➢ Multi-mode optical fiber is a type of optical fibre mostly used for communication over short
distances, such as within a building or on a campus.
➢ Multi-mode links can be used for data rates up to 100 Gbit/s.
➢ Multi-mode fiber has a fairly large core diameter that enables multiple light modes to be
propagated and limits the maximum length of a transmission link because of modal dispersion.

(Figure-7: MULTIMODE OPTIC CABLE )

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❖ Advantages of fibre optical cable:

1. Optical fiber cable is extremely hard to tap because they don’t produce electromagnetic energy. These
optical fiber cables are very secure for transmitting data.
2. This cable opposes most acidic elements that hit copper wired also are flexible in nature.
3. Optical fiber cable are often made cheaper than equivalent lengths of copper wire.
4. Light has fastest speed within universe, such a lot faster signals
5. Fiber optic cables allow much more cable than copper twisted pair cables.
6. Fiber optic cables have how more bandwidth than copper twisted pair cables.

❖ Disadvantages of fibre optical cable:

1. These cable are very difficult to merge so there’ll be loss of beam within cable
2. Installation of those cables is cost-effective. they’re not as robust because wires. Special equipment is
typically required to optical fiber.
3. These cable are highly vulnerable while fitting
4. These cables are more delicate than copper wires.
5. Special devices are needed to ascertain transmission of fiber cable.

❖ Applications:
➢ These cables are very difficult to merge so there’ll be loss of beam within cable
➢ Installation of those cables is cost-effective. they’re not as robust because wires. Special equipment is
typically required to optical fiber.
➢ These cables are highly vulnerable while fitting
➢ These cables are more delicate than copper wires.
➢ Special devices are needed to ascertain transmission of fiber cable.
➢ Fiber optic cable is dear to put in. It needs costly splicing machines and trained specialists to place in
fiber optic cables.

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4. Patch Cable
• A patch cable is an electrical cable used to connect ("patch in") one electronic or optical device to
another for signal routing.
• Devices of different types e.g., a switch connected to a computer, or a switch to a router are
connected with patch cords.
• Patch cords are usually produced in many different colors so as to be easily distinguishable from
each other.
• Types of patch cords include microphone cables, fiber
optic spectroscopy cables, headphone extension cables, XLR connector, RCA connector and phone
connectors cables (as well as ethernet cables), and thicker, hose-like cords used to carry video or
amplified signals.
• However, patch cords typically refer only to short cords used with patch panels.

(Figure-7: PATCH CABLE)

❖ Types of patch cable:

• Copper patch cable:

➢ However, patch cables are generally shorter cable assemblies used to connect equipment in
computer bays or racks, or to connect peripheral devices to the computer.
➢ Typically used over short distances, they generally do not exceed two meters in length.
➢ Some applications require longer cables for looping, to allow for future movement, or to
eliminate slack and potential damage or kinking. Although, some copper patch cables may be
only a few inches long.

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(Figure-8: COPPER PATCH CABLE)

• Fiber optic patch cable:

➢ A fiber optic patch cord, or “jumper cable,” is a cable assembly with a fiber optic cable
terminated at each end.
➢ The pre-terminated connectors allow it to be conveniently connected to an optical switch,
CATV, or other telecommunications equipment.
➢ It connects an optical transmitter, receiver, and terminal box.
➢ These devices can use Single Mode or Multimode fiber patch cable types and a variety of fiber
optic connectors.

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(Figure-9: FIBER OPTIC PATCH CABLE)

❖ Advantages:
1. Space saving
2. Improved air flow

❖ Disadvantages:
1. High attenuation
2. Lack of adequate flexibility

❖ Applications:

1. Useful for home computer networks.

2. Travelers staying in older hotels without Wi-Fi sometimes need patch cables to create hard-
wired internet connections.

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(Sufficient space to be provided)

(Give Details, Give Figure, Discuss Advantages, Discuss Disadvantages, and Discuss
Applications of each)

Ref: http://swayam.gov.in/
Computer Networking- A Top-Down approach (6th edition), Kurose and Ross, Pearson

Procedure to prepare cross-wired cable and straight through cable using

clamping tool

1. Start by stripping off about 2 inches of the plastic jacket off the end of the
cable. Be very careful at this point, as to not nick or cut into the wires, which
are inside. Doing so could alter the characteristics of your cable, or even
worse render is useless. Check the wires, one more time for nicks or cuts.
If there are any, just whack the whole end off, and start over.

2. Spread the wires apart, but be sure to hold onto the base of the jacket with
your other hand. You do not want the wires to become untwisted down
inside the jacket. Category 5 cable must only have 1/2 of an inch of
'untwisted' wire at the end; otherwise it will be 'out of spec'. At this point,
you obviously have ALOT more than 1/2 of an inch of un-twisted wire.

3. You have 2 end jacks, which must be installed on your cable. If you are
using a pre-made cable, with one of the ends whacked off, you only have
one end to install the crossed over end. Below are two diagrams, which
show how you need to arrange the cables for each type of cable end. Decide
at this point which end you are making and examine the associated picture
below.

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Following diagram shows you how to prepare Cross wired connection

(Figure-10: CROSS WIRED CONNECTION)

Following diagram shows you how to prepare straight through wired connection

(Figure-11: STRAIGHT THROUGH WIRED CONNECTIONS)

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Quiz:

1. Find out the cases where above cables are used?

❖ Uses of cross wired cable are as follows:

➢ Twisted Pair cables are used in telephone lines to provide data and voice channels.
➢ The DSL lines make use of these cables.
➢ Local Area Networks (LAN) also make use of twisted pair cables.
➢ They can be used for both analog and digital transmission.
➢ RJ-45 is a very common application of twisted pair cables.

❖ Uses of straight through cable are as follows:

➢ It helps you to connect a computer to a switch/hub’s normal port.
➢ You can use it to connect a computer to a cable/DSL modem’s LAN port.
➢ It allows you to connect a router’s WAN port to a cable/DSL modem’s LAN port.
➢ Connect 2 switches or hubs with one of the hub or switch using an upline port and the other one
using a normal port.

2. Differentiate each device.

Straight through cable Cross wired cable

A straight through cable is a type of twisted pair cable A crossover Ethernet cable is a type
that is used in local area networks to connect a of Ethernet cable used to connect
computer to a network hub such as a router. computing devices together directly.
It is commonly used cable formats for network It is used only for certain applications.
cables.
Straight through cable connects a computer with a Crossover cable connects with a router’s
cable or DSL modem’s LAN port. LAN port with switch/hub normal port.
You should use straight-through cable when you want You should use a crossover cable when
to connect two devices of different types. you want to connect two devices of the
same type.

3. Give approximate cost of each cable with name of 2 manufactures.

➢ Coaxial Cables:
o RG-6: $0.15 to $0.50 per foot.
o RG-59: $0.10 to $0.30 per foot.
o RG-11: $0.30 to $0.75 per foot.
o Manufacturers: Belden, CommScope.
➢ Twisted Pair Cables:
o UTP: $20 - $50 for a 1000ft bulk roll
o SMT: $0.30 - $1.50 per foot
o Manufactures: Monoprice, Tripp Lite
➢ Fiber Optic Cables:
o SMF: $0.50 to $2.00 per foot (varies based on distance and connectors).
o MMF: $0.30 to $1.50 per foot (varies based on distance and connectors).
o Manufacturers: Corning, AFL Telecommunications.

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➢ Patch Cables:
o Cat5e: $0.10 to $0.20 per foot.
o Cat6: $0.20 to $0.40 per foot.
o Cat6a: $0.30 to $0.60 per foot.
o Cat7: $0.50 to $0.80 per foot.
o Manufacturers: Belden, Panduit.

References used by the students:

1) https://www.netacad.com/
2) https://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/12252.networking-home.aspx
3) https://www.data-cabling.co.uk/cable-making/
4) https://community.fs.com/

Rubric wise marks obtained:

3 2 1
Ability to identify and Clear( Good) Average/partial Poor/not at all
connect networking
cables

Organization Can easily tell from Can tell with difficulty Cannot tell from
which sources from whereinformation which source
information was came information came
drawn

Bibliography All relevant Bibliography contains Bibliography contains

bibliographic most relevant very littleinformation
information is information
included

cross-wired cable and Cable working Cable working Cable not working
straight through cable properly with all properly with all properly
using clamping tool connections looks connections looks
proper poorly connected

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