Network Cables are medium through which information usually moves from one network to another.

The following are the types of cables used in networks:

a. Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Cables

b. Shielded Twisted Pair (STP) Cables

c. Coaxial Cables

d. Fibre Optics

e. Telephone

UTP is a popular type of cable that consists of two unshielded wires twisted around each other. Due to its low cost, UTP cabling is used extensively for local-area networks (LANs) and telephone connections. UTP cabling does not offer as high bandwidth or as good protection from interference as coaxial or fiber optic cables, but it is less expensive and easier to work with.

Shielded twisted pair is suitable for environments with electrical interferences; however the extra shielding can make the cables quite bulky.

Coaxial cabling has a single copper conductor at its center. A plastic layer provides insulation between the center conductor and the braided metal shield. The metal shield helps block any outside interference from fluorescent lights, motors and other computers.

There are two types of coaxial cabling:

1. Thin coaxial cables (Thin net)

2. Thick coaxial cables (thick net

Fiber Optic cable consists of a center glass core surrounded by several layers of protective materials. It transmit light rather than electronic signal eliminating the problem of electrical interference.

Telephone systems use low voltage electrical wires to convey signals to phone, modems and fax machine.

An electrical connector is a conductive device for joining electrical circuits together.

Types of Connector 1. Registered Jacks

2. RJ 45 connector

3. RJ 11 Connectors

4. Coaxial connectors

5. T-connectors

Register Jacks The naming convention for Register jacks is RJ-xx, where xx is a two digit number. The two digits indicate the types interface and the area of its application. For example RJ 11, RJ 14 and RJ 25 are used for terminating telephone lines, whereas RJ 45 is used in computer networking.

This is a plastic connector that looks like a large telephone style connector. A slot allows the RJ 45 to be inserted only one way.

RJ 11 connector The RJ 11 is the most common phone jack that is in use today. RJ 11 connectors are used to terminate phone lines, and are typically deployed with single line POTS (plain Old Telephone Service) telephone jacks.

Coaxial Cables Connector The most common types of connector used with coaxial cable is the Bayone-Neill-Concelman (BNC) connector.

T-connector BNC T-connectors are female devices for connecting three cables together. It is usually in the shape of a capital T.

Computer cables include the following:

1. Power cable

2. Data cable

3. Printer cable

4. Monitor cable

5. Serial cable

6. Universal Serial Bus (USB)

Power cable A power cable or main cable is a cord that temporary connects an electrical appliances like computer to the distribution circuits of an electrical power source via a wall socket or extension cord.

Data Cable 

Data cables are used to transmit information between system bus and peripheral devices.

Printer cable is used to connect a parallel printer to the parallel port on a PC. A parallel port is a type of interface found on computer for connecting various peripheral devices.

Monitor cable A monitor cable or a VGA (Video Graphics Array) cable is a cable used to transmit video signals

Serial cable A serial cable is a cable used to transfer information between two devices using a serial communication protocol.

Computer Connector There are generally two types of connectors name male and female.

The gender of a connector is easy to determine. A male connector has one or more protrusions that couple with a female receptacle. Good examples of male connectors are power plugs and coaxial cable.

Virtually all of the receptacles (USB, RCA, and Ethernet connectors) on a computer are female.

The male has “pins” which stick out, while the female has holes, or receptacles contacts.