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LAN Cables are the Ethernet transmission media connecting network devices in the computer network environment. A well-designed Computer Network Cabling can be a critical task of making a LAN network more manageable and available. High speed LANs are required in order to provide the scalable bandwidth necessary to support current and future network applications and services. Structured cabling provides LAN connectivity at Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps) and potentially Gigabit speeds using current standards based UTP wiring. Fiber optic cabling allows transmission across LAN backbone connections at Gigabit Ethernet (GE) and future 10GE/100GE speeds. In order to make a well-designed computer network cabling, the following lists the minimum and the recommended requirements when you deploy LAN cabling for your computer network. Minimum requirements: 1. All the structured cabling must comply with Certified CAT5 (category 5). 2. All UTP cable segments including patch leads, wall and roof cabling must be less than 100 meters in total length and should be CAT5 compliant. 3. Any legacy LAN cabling should be replaced with CAT5e cable. 4. Computer LAN Cabling must be documented and patched in a tidy fashion to a secure location. Wall points and patch panels must be labeled. The recommended computer LAN Cabling requirements are: 1. Certified CAT5e (enhanced) structured cabling and/or fiber optic cabling. 2. All UTP cable segments (including patch leads, wall and roof cabling) must be less than 100 meters long (total length) and CAT5e compliant. 3. All the backbone links that require gigabit and higher speeds should use the Fiber optic cabling. Less expensive multi-mode fiber (MMF) connections are to be used for segments less than 400 meters and single-mode fiber (SMF) for segments up to 2 kilometers long. New fiber optic connectors should be either SC or MT-RJ type interfaces. 4. Standard coloring should be used. Cabling should be color coded, adequately labeled and patched to a secure central location. Wall points and patch panels must be labeled. 5. An ongoing cable management process should be in place to ensure cabling is correctly patched and is tidy. The following are some types of Computer LAN Cable that are typically used in the local computer networking environments. Coaxial LAN Cables Coaxial LAN Cables are used for 10Base2 and 10Base5 Ethernet in years past. 10Base5 was referred to as thicknet, and 10Base2 was referred to as thinnet because 10Base5 used thicker coaxial LAN Cables, they are regarded as legacy Computer Network Cable. Coaxial LAN Cables are which the original Ethernet network technology is based on, it can extend up to 500 meters per segment, but maximum speed is 10 Mbps. Today coaxial LAN Cables is not popular anymore. UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) and STP (Shielded twisted pair) There are two types of copper-wire: UTP and UTP. UTP LAN Cables is the most popular for Computer cabling; it contains 4 pairs of color coded plastic insulation. The grade of the cable is identified by the number of Twists per inch, the less attenuation, the less signal interference and the less crosstalk. You can go maximum to 100 meters (approx 300 feet), if you go further than that, you cannot guarantee – there’ll be too much signal strength attenuation. The maximum speed of UTP LAN Cables is 1 gigabit for Category 5e which is identified by the slightly higher number of twists per inch with single nylon jacket insulation. So the grade of the cable is identified by the number of twists per inch. Connecting devices Here is the rule, when interconnecting different devices – use straight through LAN Cables. While if you want to make an interconnecting the same two devices – use crossover cable. Fiber optic Fiber optic is the latest transmission media for Ethernet standard used in LAN Cables. The main different in terms of function, between optical LAN Cables for Ethernet and electrical cable as follows: 1. Longer distance 2. Greater monetary cost 3. Less magnetic interference, making it more secure 4. Can support up to 10Gbps Certified optical fiber should be used for vertical and/or horizontal cabling where gigabit backbone connections are required. All cabling should be provisioned correctly and fastened securely in a non-hostile environment. Gigabit connections for file servers should be provisioned using MMF and not UTP due to known performance limitations using gigabit over current copper standards. Ki Grinsing was graduated from a technical college with the additions of MCSE and CCNA certifications. He has long years of working experiences in IT. For a complete article, please visit: LAN Cabling and basic Router setup .
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