Everything You Need to Know About the Important Types of Ethernet Cable
- Same Joe
- Aug 29, 2022
- 3 min read
Ethernet cables have been used widely since their inception. You can use these cables to connect various devices like your computer, routers, and your gaming consoles. In addition to that, these cables carry internet signals between devices connected via the cable.
In this article, we’ll discuss the types of Ethernet cat6 plenum cables and how are they different from each other. So, let’s start.
Types of Ethernet Cables
There are three types of Ethernet cables you can get; coaxial, twisted pair cable, and fiber optics. There are further categories in these three types but we’ll talk about these three in this article.
Coaxial Cables
This is the earliest form of Ethernet cable. You can use this type of cat6 bare copper cable for high-frequency electric signals. You will face less data loss with a coaxial cable. There is a single copper conductor inside the cable. This conductor is wrapped around in a polyvinyl chloride insulator. There is also a braided metallic shield around that insulator to fight off EMI and other types of interference. The outermost layer has a sheath made out of high-quality PVC.
This cable can deliver 10Mb per second. Coaxial cable uses 10Base2 and 10Base5 variants. You can use this cable for telephone lines and cable TV.
Twisted Pair Cable
This is one of the most commonly used cables out there. This Ethernet cable has two copper wires in the cable. These wires are twisted together to reduce cross-talk and fight off electromagnetic interference. There is an Rj45 connector on both ends of this cable. You can use this type of cable for Ethernet and fast Ethernet applications.
There are two types of twisted pair cables; shielded twisted pair cables & unshielded twisted pair cables.
STP – shielded twisted pair or STP has an extra layer of copper braid around the twisted pair inside the cable. This additional layer provides extra security against cross-talk and EMI. Hence, you can use this cat6 1000ft cable for longer distances. You will not have data loss or any other interference. Since this cable offers extra security, therefore STP cable is a bit expensive.
UTP – people use unshielded twisted pair cables all around the world. You can use this cable to connect two devices like a router and a computer. You can also use this cable for your local area network or LAN. The internal structure of this cable is also the same but there is no extra layer of protection. That is why this cable is liable to EMI and cross-talk. You can use this cable for your home network and shorter distance.
You can further divide these cables based on their internal conductor.
Pure Copper – these types of cables have a conductor made of pure copper inside them. Cat6 solid copper will have remarkable conductivity and excellent data transfer rate. You should know that these cables will be a bit expensive.
CCA Cables – copper clad aluminum or CCA is the cheap replacement of solid copper. There is nothing wrong with these cables but the conductivity will be affected. You can use these cables for your home networks. Not to mention that these Ethernet cables are not expensive.
Fiber Optics
People use fiber optics for their remarkable speed and connectivity. There is a glass core at the centre of the cable. This glass core has several layers of protection around it to keep it safe from tugs and pulls. These protection layers are made of high-end PVC.
These cables transmit data in the form of light which is why there is no interference in these cables. You can use cat6 plenum cable 1000ft for this cable to transmit data over longer distances as compared to the twisted pair cables. Not only that, but you can also this cable for Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, and Gigabit Ethernet applications. There are two types of fiber optics; single-mode fiber & multi-mode fiber optics. In single-mode, there is only one ray of light that transfers data from one place to another. Multi-mode uses two or more rays of light for the same purpose. Fiber optics are expensive compared to both coaxial and twisted pair cables.
You should conduct thorough research before getting a cable for your network. You cannot go wrong with a twisted pair Ethernet cable.
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