What the Network Cable is and Its Uses

Submitted By: John Schofield

In this computer age where many people have access to computes, more people now pass on information using the computer connected to the Internet. One computer’s information can get easily transferred to the other one using the Internet. Devices related to the computer such as the scanner, mouse, and printer are connected to one another physically through the use of network cables.
The network cable is essentially used to connect computer resources such as the mentioned devices above in order to form a network that would make information sharing easier. A network usually uses lots of network cables for data transmission. These cables are responsible for the sharing of messages from one computer to another or from sender to recipient. However, these cables can also be used on different computers in a network so that they can share devices such as scanners and printers. With the help of the cable, these personal computers can be used simultaneously. Even if most networks of computers already use wireless networks, they still need to use the network cable to connect all the components that make the network function.
These network cables are wires that are usually gray, tan or blue. You would see them lying around your computer at home and those at the office. At the tip of the wires, you would see translucent plastic where the internal wires are further protected by copper connectors. The connectors would be inserted into an input port hole in the computer. These cables are most useful in helping a computer network go operative. The computer can be easily connected to the Internet with the use of these cables. Once the computer is connected to the modem, that computer would then come alive and buzzing with the life brought by the Internet.
There are different types of network cables that you can choose from. One of the first considerations that you have to pay attention to when choosing the right cable is the type of network that you would like to have. Other considerations would follow such as the network’s size, topology, and protocol. The more devices are needed in a network to make it work effectively, the quicker the performance of the network cables should be. Thus, a more complex network of computers would need high quality cables. These are the types of cables that you need to look into.
• Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) cables. These are the usual cables that you will see used in many computer networks. These are preferred by users of networks that would need the speed of up to 100 mbps during data transmission.
• Fibre optic cables. These are cables with centre glass core that are covered by insulating materials to keep them protected. These cables are different from the traditional cables because the transmit data using light or electronic signals. Moreover, they can transmit data to places farther away than those distances reached by the other types of network cables.
• Coaxial cables. They are characterised by using only a single conductor used all throughout the length of the cables. To keep the metal shield from reacting with the centre of the conductor, a plastic layer is also inserted into the cables.

Published At: Isnare.com