Wire+Advantages+and+Disadvantages

**__Twisted Pair__**

**Advantages** > **Disadvantages** Shielded wire is used in an electrically noisy environment to limit the effects of noise absorption. Twisted – pair wiring is more commonly used for LAN media. The twisted pair version of Ethernet is designated as 10BASE-T, in which 10 refers to the Ethernet rate of 10 Mbps. Twisted pair cabling comes in several varieties. In computer networks, two of these are important. Category 3 twisted pair’s cable consists of two insulated wires gently twisted together. Four such pairs are typically grouped together in a plastic sheath for protection and to keep the eight wires together. Another more advanced category, 5 twisted pairs were introduced. They are similar to category 3 pairs, but with more twist per centimeter, which results in less crosstalk and better quality signal over longer distances, making them more suitable for high speed computer communication **__Coaxial Cable__** **Advantages** > **Trade-off between Coaxial Cable and Twisted-pair wiring** Following factors give the comparison between the coaxial cable and twisted pair wiring as transmission media. **Cost** In general, coaxial cable is more expensive by a factor of two or three, than twisted pair, and more expensive by a smaller factor than shielded twisted pair. **Data rate** The difference between coaxial and twisted pair cable is more apparent in the data rate that they support. For comparable distances to be spanned, twisted pair will typically be suitable for data rates of at least an order of magnitude less. If the data rate of choice is 1 – Mbps, then either coaxial cable or twisted pair will suffice at distance out to several hundred meters. **Security** Cables that employ copper conductors can easily be breached by listening equipment. If the main consideration is security, then fiber cable is the only choice to avoid espionage. However it is to be remembered that no system can ever be perfectly secure. Even fiber-optic lines can be tapped without detection. **Electromagnetic compatibility** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Coaxial cable emits less radiation which may cause less interference with the communication equipment as compared to twisted wires. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">**Disadvantages** > <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 30px; text-align: center;">**__Fiber Optic Cable__** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">**Advantages** > <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">**Disadvantages**
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Being the oldest method of data transmission, trained manpower to repair and service this media of communications are easily available.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">In a telephone system, signals can travel several kilometers without amplification when twisted pair wires are used.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">These media can be used for both analog and digital data transmission. The bandwidth depends on the thickness of the wire and the distance travelled, but several megabits per second can be achieved for a few kilometers in many cases.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">It is the least expensive media for transmission for short distances.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">If a portion of a twisted-pair cable is damaged, the entire network is not shut down as it may be the case with coaxial cable.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Easily pick up noise signals which results in higher error rates when the line length exceeds 100 meters.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Being thin in size, it is likely to break easily.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">It can support 19,200 bps up to 50 feet on RS-232 port.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">It has better shield against electromagnetic interference than twisted pair cable, so it can span longer distance at higher data bits per second (bps).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">It can be used for both analog and digital data transmissions. For analog data transmission, 75-ohm broadband coaxial is used and for digital transmission, 50 – ohm baseband cable is used.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">It is inexpensive as compared to twisted pair wires and UTP cables but easy to handle.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">More expensive to install compare to twisted pair cable.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">The thicker the cable, the more difficult to work with.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">It can handle much higher bandwidth than copper. Due to the low attenuation, repeaters are needed only about every 30 Km on fiber lines, versus about every 5 km for copper.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Fiber is not affected by power surges, electromagnetic interference, or power failures. Nor is it affected by corrosive chemicals in the air, making it ideal for factory environments where electrical interference is very high.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Fiber is lighter than copper. One thousand twisted pairs copper cables of 1 km long weigh 800 kg. But fibers have only 100 kg.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Fibers do not leak light and are quite difficult to tap. This gives them excellent security against potential wire-tappers.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Fiber is an unfamiliar technology requiring skills which may not be easily available.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Since optical transmission is inherently unidirectional, two-way communication requires either two fiber cables or two frequency bands on one fiber.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 16px;">Fiber interfaces cost more than electrical interfaces.

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