Tutorial 4 Blog

What key components do you think make up a good (LAN) local area network?  A high speed internet provider? A fast running modem? A high performance router?  Yes, all of these are important aspects of a good network.  But think about how the internet gets from the provider to the modem and then to the router?  These are arguably the most important parts of a network and without them we wouldn't be able to 'connect' the network together.  Hmm, let me think...I got it!  CABLES!  Yes you're right.  So right now you are probably thinking, "what do cable have to do with having a good network?" There are three main types of cables when dealing with a local area network. Let me break it down for you.  

Coaxial

First, you have the coaxial cable which has a copper core that data travels on. Coaxial has less attenuation and greater resistance to noise than other types of cable. It is an older technology with limited capabilities that is less expensive than fiber but more than twisted pair.

Twisted Pair

Next you have twisted pair cables which is your most commonly used ethernet cable on the market today.  This technology is compatible with almost every computer and peripheral device used within a standard local area network (LAN).  This cable offers the most bang for your buck and is easy to install.

Fiber Optic

Last but not least we have fiber optic cables.  Fiber optic is the fastest, most secure and most expensive networking cable available on the market today for a local area network.  The fiber optic is unique in that it does not contain copper as the coaxial and twisted pair cables do; allowing for little to no resistance when transferring data. Data is sent as pulsing light through the fibers from one node to another.

Things To Consider

Latency, throughput  and attenuation are factors to consider when trying to determine what cable would best suit your LAN needs. Latency is the delay in data transfer from point A to point B usually measured in (ms) milliseconds. Delays vary depending upon cable length, strength of signal and the number of devices it must travel through to reach its destination point. Throughput is a measurement of how much data can be transferred at a single time often measured in (b/s) bits per second. Attenuation is the loss of a signal the further away it gets from its origin. The fix for this is plugging into a amplifier, repeater or hub to further boost the signal strength.  Hopefully this information can help guide you to determine which cables you need to build your network.  Remember that your network is only as fast as your slowest running cable.