NETWORKING

(CSIS3744)
Chapter 5
Network Cabling

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 Objectives
5.1 Explain basic data transmission concepts, including
throughput, bandwidth, multiplexing, and common
transmission flaws
5.2 Identify and describe the physical characteristics and official
standards of coaxial cable, twisted-pair, and fiber-optic cable,
and their related connectors
5.3 Compare the benefits and limitations of various networking
media
5.4 Select and use the appropriate tool to troubleshoot common
cable problems

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 Transmission Basics

• Transmission techniques in use on today’s network are complex and varied

• This section covers:
• Measurements that indicate network efficiency
• Obstacles to good network performance

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 Throughput and Bandwidth (1 of 2)

• Bandwidth
• The amount of data that could be theoretically transmitted during a given period of
time
• Throughput
• Measure of how much data is actually transmitted during given time period
• Both are commonly expressed as bits transmitted per second, called bit rate

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 Throughput and Bandwidth (2 of 2)

• Table 5-1 Throughput and bandwidth measures

Quantity Prefix Abbreviation

1 bit per second n/a 1 bps = 1 bit per second

1000 bits per second kilo 1 Kbps = 1 kilobit per second

1,000,000 bits per second mega 1Mbps = 1 megabit per second

1,000,000,000 bits per second giga 1 Gbps = 1 gigabit per second

1,000,000,000,000 bits per second tera 1 Tbps = 1 terabit per second

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 Transmission Flaws (1 of 4)

• Noise:
• Any undesirable influence degrading or distorting signal
• Measured in dB (decibels)
• Types of noise
• EMI (electromagnetic interference):
- Caused by motors, power lines, televisions, copiers, fluorescent lights, etc.
- One type of EMI is RFI (radio frequency interference)
• Cross-talk:
- Signal on one wire infringes on adjacent wire signal
- Alien cross-talk occurs between two cables
- Near end cross-talk (NEXT) occurs near source
- Far end cross-talk (FEXT) occurs at the far end

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Transmission Flaws (2 of 4)

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 Transmission Flaws (3 of 4)

• Attenuation
• Loss of signal’s strength as it travels away from source
• Signals can be boosted:
• Repeater—Regenerates a digital signal in its original form
- Without noise previously accumulated

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 Transmission Flaws (4 of 4)

• Latency:
• Delay between signal transmission and receipt
• May cause network transmission errors
• Latency causes:
• Cable length
• Intervening connectivity device
• Round trip time (RTT):
• Time for packet to go from sender to receiver, then back from receiver to sender
• If packets experience varying amounts of delay:
• They can arrive out of order
• A problem commonly called jitter or PDV (packet delay variation)

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 Duplex, Half-Duplex, and Simplex (1 of 2)

• NIC settings include the direction in which signals travel over the media and the
number of signals that can traverse the media at any given time
• These two settings are combined to create different methods of communication
• Full-duplex—Also called duplex
• Signals travel in both directions over a medium simultaneously
• Half-duplex
• Signals may travel in both directions but only in one direction at a time
• Simplex
• Signals may travel in only one direction and is sometimes called one-way or
unidirectional, communication

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Duplex, Half-Duplex, and Simplex (2 of 2)

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 Multiplexing (1 of 4)

• Multiplexing
• A form of transmission that allows multiple signals to travel simultaneously over one
medium
• Subchannels
• Logical multiple smaller channels
• Multiplexer (mux):
• Combines many channel signals
• Required at the transmitting end of the channel
• Demultiplexer (demux)
• Separates the combined signals

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 Multiplexing (2 of 4)

• Three types of multiplexing are used on copper lines

• TDM (time division multiplexing)
• Divides channel into multiple time intervals
• STDM (statistical time division multiplexing):
• Transmitter assigns slots to nodes
- According to priority and need
• Maximizes available bandwidth on a network
• FDM (frequency division multiplexing)
• Assigns different frequency band for each communications subchannel

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 Multiplexing (3 of 4)

• Three types of multiplexing are used on fiber-optic cable

• WDM (wavelength division multiplexing)
• Carries multiple light signals simultaneously by dividing a light beam into different
wavelengths or colors
• DWDM (dense wavelength division multiplexing):
• Extraordinary capacity
• Typically used on high-bandwidth or long-distance WAN links
• CWDM (Coarse wavelength division multiplexing):
• Channels are spaced more widely apart across entire frequency band
• Effective distance is more limited because the signal is not amplified

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Multiplexing (4 of 4)

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 Copper Cable

• Coaxial cable is considered a “legacy” cable

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 Twisted-Pair Cable (1 of 3)

• Color-coded insulated copper wire pairs:

• 0.4–0.8 mm diameter
• Encased in a plastic sheath
• Every two wires are twisted together

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 Twisted-Pair Cable (2 of 3)

• Twisted-pair cabling in Ethernet networks contains four wire pairs:

• Fast Ethernet uses one pair to send data and one pair to receive data
• Networks using Gigabit Ethernet use all four pairs for both sending and receiving
• Wiring standard specification
• TIA/EIA 568
• Most common twisted pair types:
• Category (cat) 3, 5, 5e, 6, 6a, and 7
• CAT 5e or higher used in modern LANs
• Two categories:
• Shielded twisted pair (STP)
• Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)

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Twisted-Pair Cable (3 of 3)

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 STP (Shielded Twisted Pair)

• Individually insulated
• Surrounded by metallic substance shielding (foil):
• Barrier to external electromagnetic forces
• Contains electrical energy of signals inside
• Must be grounded

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 UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair)

• One or more insulated wire pairs encased in plastic sheath:

• No additional shielding
• Less expensive, less noise resistance

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 Comparing STP and UTP

• Throughput
• STP and UTP can transmit the same rates
• Cost
• STP and UTP vary in cost
• STP is more expensive than UTP
• Connector
• STP and UTP use Registered Jack 45
• Noise immunity
• STP is more noise resistant
• Size and scalability
• Maximum segment length for both: 100 meters on Ethernet networks that support
data rates from 1 Mbps and 10 Gbps

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 Cable Pinouts (1 of 4)

• Proper cable termination is a requirement for two nodes on a network to

communicate
• Poor terminations can lead to loss or noise in a signal
• TIA/EIA specifies two methods of inserting wires into RJ-45 plugs:
• TIA/EIA 568A
• TIA/EIA 568B
• No functional difference between the two standards
• Just make sure you use the same standard on every RJ-45 plug and jack

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Cable Pinouts (2 of 4)

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 Cable Pinouts (3 of 4)

• Straight-through cable (also called patch cable)

• Terminate RJ-45 plugs at both ends identically
• Crossover cable
• Transmit and receive wires on one end reversed
• Rollover cable (also called console cable):
• All wires are reversed
• Terminations are a mirror image of each other
• Used to connect a computer to the console port of a router
- When making configuration changes to the device

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Cable Pinouts (4 of 4)

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 PoE (Power over Ethernet) (1 of 4)

• PoE—IEEE 802.3af standard which specifies a method for supplying electrical

power over twisted-pair Ethernet connections
• Amount of power provided:
• 15.4 watts for standard PoE devices
• 25.5 watts for newer PoE+ devices (802.3at standard)
• PoE standard specifies two types of devices:
• PSE (power sourcing equipment)
• PD (powered devices)

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 PoE (Power over Ethernet) (2 of 4)

• PoE requires Cat 5 or better copper cable

• The IEEE standard requires that a PSE device first determine whether a node is
PoE-capable before attempting to supply it with power
• On networks that demand PoE but don’t have PoE-capable equipment, you can
add PoE adapters

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PoE (Power over Ethernet) (3 of 4)

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PoE (Power over Ethernet) (4 of 4)

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 Ethernet Standards for Twisted-Pair Cable (1 of 2)

• A cable’s category (Cat 5e or Cat 6) determines the fastest network speed it can
support
• A Layer 1 characteristic
• A device’s NIC is also rated for maximum network speeds
• Most LANs today use devices and NICs that can support Fast Ethernet and
Gigabit Ethernet
• Devices can auto-negotiate for the fastest standard they have in common

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 Ethernet Standards for Twisted-Pair Cable (2 of 2)

• Table 5-4 Ethernet standards used with twisted-pair cabling

Standard Maximum Maximum Physical media Pairs of wires

transmission distance per used for
speed (Mbps) segment (m) transmission
100Base-T Fast 100 100 Cat 5 or better 2 pair
Ethernet
1000Base-T 1000 100 Cat 5 or better (Cat 4 pair
Gigabit Ethernet 5e is preferred)
10GBase-T 10- 10,000 100 Cat 6a or Cat 7 (Cat 7 4 pair
Gigabit Ethernet is preferred)

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 Fiber-Optic Cable (1 of 4)

• Fiber-optic cable (fiber)

• Contains one or more glass or plastic fibers at its center (core)
• Data transmission
• Pulsing light sent from laser or light-emitting diode (LED) through central fibers
• Cladding:
• Layer of glass or plastic surrounding fibers
• Different density from glass or plastic in strands
• Reflects light back to core
• Allows fiber to bend

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 Fiber-Optic Cable (2 of 4)

• Plastic buffer outside cladding:

• Protects cladding and core
• Opaque to absorb escaping light
• Surrounded by Kevlar (polymeric fiber) strands
• Plastic sheath covers Kevlar strands

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 Fiber-Optic Cable (3 of 4)

• Benefits over copper cabling:

• Extremely high throughput
• Very high noise resistance
• Excellent security
• Able to carry signals for longer distances
• Drawbacks:
• More expensive than twisted pair cable
• Requires special equipment to splice

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 Fiber-Optic Cable (4 of 4)

• Throughput
• Proven reliable in transmitting data at rates that can reach 100 gigabits per second per
channel
• Cost
• Most expensive transmission medium
• Noise immunity
• Unaffected by EMI
• Size and scalability:
• Segment lengths vary from 2 to 40,000 meters
• Depends on the light’s wavelength and type of cable

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 SMF (Single Mode Fiber) (1 of 2)

• Consists of narrow core (8–10 microns in diameter):

• Laser-generated light travels over one path
- Little reflection
• Light does not disperse as signal travels
• Can carry signals many miles:
• Before repeating is required
• Rarely used for shorter connections:
• Due to cost
• The Internet backbone depends on SMF

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SMF (Single Mode Fiber) (2 of 2)

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 MMF (Multimode Fiber) (1 of 2)

• Contains a core with a larger diameter than single mode fiber

• Common sizes: 50 or 62.5 microns
• Laser or LED generated light pulses travel at different angles
• Greater attenuation than single-mode fiber
• Common uses:
• Cables connecting routers, switches, and servers on the backbone of a network
• Cables to connect a desktop workstation to the network
• Transition between SMF and MMF might occur at an FDP (fiber distribution
panel)

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MMF (Multimode Fiber) (2 of 2)

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 Fiber Connectors (1 of 3)

• MMF connectors
• Classified by the number of fibers
• SMF connectors
• Classified by size and shape of the ferrule
• Ferrule—The extended tip of a connector that makes contact with the
receptacle in the jack

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 Fiber Connectors (2 of 3)

• Shapes and polishes used by SMF ferrules to reduce back reflection:

• Ultra Polished Connector (UPC)
• Angle Polished Connector (APC)

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 Fiber Connectors (3 of 3)

• SMF connectors are typically available with a 1.25-mm ferrule or a 2.5-mm

ferrule:
• Most common 1.25-mm connector is the LC (local connector)
• Two 2.5-mm connectors are the SC (standard connector) and ST (straight tip)
• Most common MMF connector is the MTRJ
• Existing fiber networks might use ST or SC connectors
• LC and MT-RJ are used on the very latest fiber-optic technology

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 Media Converters

• Media converter:
• Hardware that enables networks or segments running on different media to
interconnect and exchange signals
• Completes the physical connection and converts electrical signals from copper cable
to light wave signals
- Can also be used to convert networks using MMF with networks using SMF

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 Fiber Transceivers (1 of 4)

• Some switches allow you to change and upgrade its interfaces

• They contain sockets where one of many types of modular interfaces, called
transceivers, can be plugged in
• GBIC—A standard type of modular interface designed for Gigabit Ethernet
connections
• May contain RJ-45 or fiber-optic cable ports

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 Fiber Transceivers (2 of 4)

• Newer transceivers that have made the GBIC obsolete:

• SFP (small form-factor pluggable)
• XFP (10 Gigabit small form-factor pluggable)
• SFP+
• QSFP (quad small form-factor pluggable)
• QSFP+
• CFP (centum form-factor pluggable)
• To avoid a transceiver mismatch
• Devices must be paired based on supported speeds and protocols

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Fiber Transceivers (3 of 4)

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 Fiber Transceivers (4 of 4)

• BiDi transceivers:
• Allows bidirectional transmission on both ports
• Means fiber cable carries data in both directions
• Installing a transceiver:
• Slide the transceiver into a socket on the back of the connectivity device
• Most SFPs come with a tab or latch system and keyed so that they will slide into the
socket when aligned properly

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 Ethernet Standards for Fiber-Optic Cable (1 of 2)

• Table 5-6 Ethernet standards using fiber-optic cable

Standard blank Maximum Maximum distance per Physical

transmission segment (m) media
speed (Mbps)
Gigabit 1000Base-LX 1000 550 for MMF, 5000 for S MMF or S
Ethernet MF MF
blank 1000Base-SX 1000 Up to 550, depending on MMF
modal bandwidth and
fiber core diameter
10-Gigabit 10GBase-SR and 10,000 Up to 300, depending on MMF
Ethernet 10GBase-LW modal bandwidth and
fiber core diameter
blank 10GBase-LR and 10,000 10,000 SMF
10GBase-LW
blank 10GBase-ER and 10,000 40,000 SMF
10GBase-EW

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 Ethernet Standards for Fiber-Optic Cable (2 of 2)

• Table 5-7 1000Base-SX Segment lengths

Multimode fiber diameter Maximum segment length

50 microns 550 m

62.5 microns 275 m

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 Common Fiber Cable Problems

• Fiber type mismatch:

• More of a fiber core mismatch
• Even same-mode cables can be mismatched if the cores have different widths
• Wavelength mismatch
• SMF, MMF, and POF (Plastic Optical Fiber) use different wavelengths
• Dirty connectors
• Signal loss and other errors can start to cause problems

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 Troubleshooting Tools

• Start troubleshooting a network connection problem by checking the network

connection LED status indicator lights:
• Steady light indicates connectivity
• Blinking light indicates activity
• Red or amber light might indicate a problem
• If a cabling issue is suspected
• Know which tools are designed to analyze and isolate problems

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 Toner and Probe Kit (1 of 3)

• Tone generator (toner):

• Small electronic device
• Issues signal on wire pair
• Tone locator (probe)
• Emits tone when electrical activity detected
• Probe kit or toner probe
• Generator and locator combination
• Testing requires trial and error
• Used to determine where wired pair terminates
• Not used to determine cable characteristics

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Toner and Probe Kit (2 of 3)

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Toner and Probe Kit (3 of 3)

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 Multimeter (1 of 2)

• Multimeter
• Measures electric circuit characteristics
- Resistance, voltage, and impedance
• Use a multimeter to do the following:
• Measure voltage to verify cable is conducting electricity
• Check for the presence of noise
• Test for short or open circuits in the wire:
- Short circuit is an unwanted connection
- Open circuit is one where needed connections are missing

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Multimeter (2 of 2)

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 Cable Continuity Tester (1 of 3)

• Cable continuity testers (cable testers)

• Tests whether cable carries signal to destination
• Copper-based cable tester
• Consists of two parts:
- Base unit generates voltage
- Remote unit detects voltage
• Series of lights, audible tone
• Used to signal pass/fail

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 Cable Continuity Tester (2 of 3)

• Some continuity testers verify UTP, STP wires paired correctly

• Not shorted, exposed, crossed
• Fiber optic continuity tester:
• Issues light pulses on fiber
• Determines whether pulses reach other end
• Offer convenience: Portable, lightweight, and low cost

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Cable Continuity Tester (3 of 3)

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 Cable Performance Tester (1 of 2)

• Cable performance tester, line tester, or certifier

• Performs similarly to continuity testers but can be used to:
- Measure distance to a connectivity device, termination point, or cable fault
- Measure attenuation
- Measure NEXT (near end cross-talk)
- Measure termination resistance and impedance
- Issue pass/fail ratings for Cat 3–7 standards
- Store and print results or save to a computer database
- Graphically depict attenuation and cross-talk

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 Cable Performance Tester (2 of 2)

• TDR (time domain reflectometer):

• Issue signal, measures signal bounce back
• Indicates distance between nodes
• Indicates whether terminators properly installed, functional
• OTDRs (optical time domain reflectometers):
• Measure fiber length
• Determine faulty splice locations, breaks, connectors, bends, and measure
attenuation over cable
• Measure attenuation over the cable
• Can be expensive

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 OPM (Optical Power Meter) (1 of 2)

• OPM (optical power meter):

• Also called a light meter
• Measures the amount of light power transmitted on a fiber-optic line
• Must be calibrated precisely, following highly accurate optical power standards
• Surrounding room temperature, connection type, and the skill of the technician all
affect the final test results

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OPM (Optical Power Meter) (2 of 2)

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 Chapter Summary (1 of 4)

• Bandwidth is the amount of data that could theoretically be transmitted during

a given period of time
• Noise can degrade or distort a signal
• Duplex signals are free to travel in both directions over a medium
simultaneously
• Today’s networks might use RG-59 coaxial cable for short connections
• Twisted-pair cable consists of color-coded pairs of insulated copper wires that
are twisted in pairs:
• STP cable’s shielding acts as a barrier to external electromagnetic forces
• UTP cable is both less expensive and less resistant to noise than STP
• STP and UTP both use RJ-45 modular connectors and data jacks

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 Chapter Summary (2 of 4)

• A crossover cable has the transmit and receive wires reversed

• A router’s console port is used with a console cable, or rollover cable
• A crimper pushes on the pins inside an RJ-45 connector so they pierce the
wire’s insulation
• Data is transmitted through the central fibers of fiber-optic cable via pulsing
light sent from a laser or an LED source
• Laser-generated light travels over a single path in SMF cables
• MMF contains a core with a larger diameter than SMF over which many pulses
of light generated by a laser or LED light source travel at different angles
• Older fiber networks might use ST or SC connectors

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 Chapter Summary (3 of 4)

• A media converter is hardware that enables networks or segments running on

different media to interconnect and exchange signals
• Cabling problems unique to fiber include fiber type mismatch, wavelength
mismatch, and dirty connectors
• Start troubleshooting a network connection problem by checking the network
connection LED status indicator lights
• A tone generator issues a signal on a wire that can be detected by a tone
locator
• A multimeter can measure many characteristics of an electric circuit, including
its resistance, voltage, and impedance

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 Chapter Summary (4 of 4)

• A cable continuity tester is battery operated and has two parts: The base unit
that connects to one end of the cable and generates a voltage, and the remote
unit that connects to the other end of the cable and detects the voltage
• A sophisticated cable performance tester will include TDR (time domain
reflector) that issues a signal on a cable and then measures the way the signal
bounces back
• Detecting the type and locations of cable defects
• An OPM (optical power meter) measures the amount of light power
transmitted on a fiber-optic line

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distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use. 68