Curtis Fortenberry

Phys F211X | 11/23/2016

Introduction to Network Cables

Network cables are the most typical form of data trasportation from one network enabled device to another. There are several different types of cabling depending on the network topology, protocols used, size, distance, and other factors. Types of cables include:

  • Copper (twisted pair) cables
    • Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP)
    • Shielded Twisted Pair (STP)
  • Coaxial cables
  • Fiber optic cables
  • USB | Serial and Parallel | Crossover | Patch

Even though there have been major advances in the wireless fields (see IEEE 802.11), network cables remain more reliable and still transfer data at higher speeds depending on the cable type. Network cables are by no means a recent invention, in fact they date back as far as May 24th, 1844, when Samuel Morse invented the Telegraph. They have come a long way since Pre-Civil War Era America. For example: OM4 multimode fiber can support speeds of about 40 Gigabits (not bytes) per second over a distance of about 150 meters, or OM1 can support 10Gbps over a distance larger than 20 kilometers. For those interested in dates, here's a brief timeline courtesy of datacottage.com:

  • 1844 - May 24th - The Telegraph invented by Samuel Morse.
  • 1845 - English patent for a telegraph by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.
  • 1846 - A man called Royal House invented a printing telegraph which required two operators at each end.
  • 1851 - Western Union Company was formed by the merger of 12 telegraph companies.
  • 1861 - German inventor Phillip Reis invented a device for transmitting musical tones called a 'Telephone'.
  • 1874 - Jean-Maurice-Emile Baudot patented the Baudot telegraph code.
  • 1876 - February 14th - Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent for the Telephone.
  • 1876 - February 14th - A few hours after Bell, Elisha Gray filed a patent for the Telephone.
  • 1889 - Almon Brown Strowger invented the 'Dial Telephone' and 'Strowger Switch'.
  • 1948 - Bell Labs invented the transistor.
  • 1966 - ASCII code was devised.
  • 1969 - RS232 serial standard was established.
  • 1976 - Paper on Ethernet was published by Bob Metcalfe and David Boggs at PARC.
  • 1979 - DEC and Intel join forces with Xerox to develop Ethernet.
  • 1980 - DEC, Intel and Xerox publish the 'Ethernet Blue Book' or DIX standard.
  • 1983 - IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard.
  • 1984 - IBM introduce 4Mbps Token Ring.
  • 1985 - IEEE 802.3a Thin Ethernet standard, 10Base2.
  • 1985 - IEEE 802.3b Ethernet standard 10Broad36, 10Mbps using broad band.
  • 1987 - IEEE 802.3d Fibre Optic Inter-Repeater Link (FOIRL) & IEEE 802.3e 1Mbps Ethernet over twisted pair.
  • 1990 - IEEE 802.3i Ethernet standard, 10BaseT.
  • 1991 - July - EIA/TIA 568 standard for telecommunications wiring in commercial buildings.
  • 1991 - August - EIA/TIA TSB 36 for higher grade cables (Cat 4 and Cat 5).
  • 1992 - August - EIA/TIA TSB 40 for higher grade connecting hardware.
  • 1993 - IEEE 802.3j Ethernet standard 10BaseFL, Ethernet fibre links up to 2km.
  • 1994 - January - EIA/TIA TSB 40A - included patch cords and testing in more detail.
  • 1994 - January - EIA/TIA 568 revised to EIA/TIA 568A and included TSB 36, TSB 40A and other amendments.
  • 1995 - IEEE 802.3u Fast Ethernet standards 100BaseTX (2 pair Cat 5), 100BaseT4 (4 pair Cat 3), 100BaseFX.
  • 1997 - IEEE 802.3x Full duplex Ethernet standard.
  • 1997 - IEEE 802.3y 100BaseT2 Fast Ethernet standard (2 pair Cat 3).
  • 2001 - Cat 5e standard - ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2
  • 2002 - Cat 6 standard - ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2-1
  • 2008 - Cat 6A standards - ANSI/TIA/EIA-568-B.2-10
  • 2008 - Class EA and FA standards - Amendment 1 to ISO/IEC 11801, 2nd Ed