A common type of networking cable that connects many personal computers and office computers to the telephone company is the unshielded twisted pair cable. It consists of a copper wire and is simpler to work with as compared to other networking cables. The UTP cable is very cost-effective and can be implemented with Ethernet based network as well as an ordinary telephone lines.

 

The characteristics of this cable, is that it has a pair of copper wire tangled with each other to reduce electromagnetic stimulation between them. Compared to coaxial as well as fibre optic cables, the UTP does not have a high bandwidth nor does it provide adequate safety from interference. Yet, it is widely used for Local area network as well as phone lines. There are several categories that fall under the unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables.

 

CAT 1 cable is the first category, which is suitable for phone communication but not for computer networking purpose.

 

CAT 2 UTP cables are suited for transmission of data up to 4mbps. Still, this cable is not suitable for Ethernet based work.

 

CAT 3 cable has the ability to carry 100base-T network and can transmit data up to 16 MHz. Yet it is not advisable to use with installation of new networks.

 

CAT 4 UTP wires can carry 20MHz of transmission with a speed of up to 16mbps. It is widely used with token ring networks.

 

CAT 5 cables is a general UTP cable which can be used for all purpose networks. Most computers using LAN implement this type of cable for connecting between computers. An enhanced version of CAT 5 is CAT 5e.

 

The last two categories are CAT 6 and the CAT 7 cables both of which are considered backward as compared to CAT 5 and CAT 5e unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables.

See also:

 

Shielded Twisted Pair Cables - Different Types of Cabling Used for Increased Bandwidth

Fibre Optic Cable - Simple Technology and Greater Bandwidth

Wireless LANs- Their Advantages and Disadvantages as Compared to Wired Networks

Introduction to Network Cabling: Cables for Computer Networking

Ethernet Cable Specifications for Maximizing Speed and Efficiency

Coaxial Cables - Brief Characteristics and Features of Coaxial Cables for Networking