Network cable classification and purchasing

Network cable classification and purchasing

A network cable in the broad sense includes coaxial cables, telephone lines, optical fiber cables, and twisted pair wires. According to the Ethernet standard set by IEEE, twisted pair wires are most suitable for common LAN with a star topology. The twisted pair uses rubber as the Housing material, and contains 4-to-8 copper core plastic wires of different colors. Each two core wires are twisted together according to certain rules to become a core cable pair. It includes unshielded twisted pair wires (UTP) and shielded twisted pair wires (STP ). It is costly to shield twisted pair wires (STP) and theoretically better to shield interference with electromagnetic signals. However, due to its high requirements on the network construction environment, we often find that the shielded twisted pair wires (STP) are used in practical applications) it is not as good as unshielded twisted pair wires (UTP ). Starting from the cost-effectiveness and maintainability, most local networks now use unshielded twisted pair wires (UTP). The commonly purchased cable is the unshielded twisted pair wires (UTP ).

Shielded twisted pair wires (STP)

Unshielded twisted pair wires (UTP)

International EIA/TIA-568 network cable standards will be divided into three categories, 4 categories, 5 categories, over 5 categories, 6 categories, 7 categories and other 6. Category 3 and Category 4 twisted pair wires are suitable for classic 10 Mbps networks,Category 5 is a standard product with a Mbps Network,More than 5 types can be applied to Mbps Networks. In addition, category 5 and Category 5 are compatible with low-level networks.

Network cable category

We recommend that you purchase over 5 types of network cables to facilitate the use of Mbps networks in the future. However, there are many category-5 and category-5 network cables counterfeited by category-3 or category-4 network cables on the market, as well as counterfeit goods. There are several methods to distinguish them:

1. Quality of outer packing. The twisted pair wires on the market are sold in boxes, each of which is 300 meters. Genuine twisted pair packing carton should be good materials and printing clearly, and in most cases there are anti-counterfeit labels outside the carton.

2. Work on twisted pair case. The insulation skin of twisted pair wires should contain information such as the place of origin, implementation standard, product category, and cable length. Cat5 is the identification of Category 5, cat5e is the identification of Category 5, and cat6 is the identification of category 6 ".Products with uppercase letters such as cat5 and 5E on the external cover are often suspicious.. If you try to print the suspicious twisted pair surface, the color of these words may be removed.

3. Can twisted pair wires be bent easily. Regular manufacturers will consider the need to bend the cable when making the cable. in manufacturing, they will make the outer skin of the twisted pair more flexible and scalable. Profiteers who produce inferior lines tend to cut corners in order to save costs. The consequence of doing so is that it is difficult to restore the network cable after it is bent. Discount a network cable. If it can pop up as it is, it indicates it is genuine.

4. Whether the outer skin is flame retardant. In order to ensure safety, twisted pair wires are not flushed by common flame points. Use a lighter to fire the outer skin directly. The outer skin of the good network cable will gradually melt and deform under the barbecue, but it will not burn up.

5. Twisted Pair wires. A pair of high quality twisted wires not only twist each line in a counterclockwise manner, but also twist each line in a counterclockwise manner. The line length of the average twisted-in-one ring is called the twisting density. Generally, the twisting density of more than five lines is higher than that of five lines. Fake line twisting density is small and will look loose.

6. The color of the core of the twisted pair wire. If we peel off the outer rubber of twisted pair wires, we can see four to eight core wires in it, they are white orange, orange, white green, green, white blue, blue, white Brown and brown respectively. There are only four core wires in the three cables. Only when some core wires are dyed can they be disguised as five of the eight core wires. Therefore, the core wires of fake and shoddy cables will fade when they are forcefully removed.

7. Home measurement. Copy files between the home computer and the computer through "Network Neighbor", because the maximum LAN speed of the three lines is 20 Mbps (2.5 Mbps ), therefore, if the copy rate is greater than Mbps, it can prove whether the network cable supports a Mbps network.

 

Http://compnetworking.about.com/od/ethernet/g/cat5-cables.htm

Cat5 cable contains four pairs of copper wire. It supportsFast EthernetSpeeds (up to 100 Mbps). As with all other types of twisted pair EIA/TIA cabling, cat5 cable runs are limited to a maximum recommended Run Length of 100 m (328 feet ).

Cat5 supports 100 Mbps, with a maximum length of 100 m

Cat5 enhanced ("cat5e" or "cat 5E ")-Supports networking at Gigabit Ethernet [speeds (up to 1000 Mbps) over short distances by utilizing all four wire pairs, and it is backward-compatible with ordinary cat5.

Cat5e supports 1000 Mbps