Networking

UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) cables are widely used in most networks of the computer and telecommunications industry, as Ethernet cables or telephone wires. This tutorial aims to describe the knowledge of UTP cabling. UTP Cables & Cabling Characteristics The quality of UTP cables varies from telephone-grade wire to extremely high-speed cable. Most UTP cables used in structured cabling systems today are comprised of carefully twisted pairs of solid copper wire inside the insulated jacket, providing high bandwidth, low attenuation and crosstalk. Several categories of UTP cables are now available in the market. Among them, categories 5e and 6 UTP cables are the most popular types of UTP cabling in today’s networks. For UTP cabling, there are some characteristics, as shown in the following table. Characteristic Value Maximum Cable Length 100 meters Bandwidth Up to 1000 Mbps Bend Radius Minimum four times the cable diameter or 1 inch Installation & Maintenance Easy to ...

Twisted pair cables are widely used in transmitting information. The twist in the wire cancels out any magnetic interference that may develop in the wiring. There are two kinds of twisted pair cabling, shielded twisted pair (STP) and unshielded twisted pair (UTP). For 10GBASE-T data transmission with distance up to 100 meters, both STP and UTP copper cabling systems are applicable as it defines in IEEE 802.3an-2006 standard. So which one will you choose for achieving the best performance of your 10GBASE-T network? UTP doesn’t use any additional shielding, except of the plastic sheath around cable. While STP is a twisted pair cable that is additionally insulated by foil or/and braided copper shielding. For STP and UTP, each has its advantages and disadvantages. The following will talk about their performances in 10GBASE-T network from the sides of alien crosstalk, termination&installation and costs. Alien Crosstalk In 10GBASE-T applications, it’s alien crosstalk (the nois...