Transmission Media -Cont

ƒ     Categories of UTP Cable EIA has developed standards to grade UTP cables by quality. Categories  are  determined  by  cable  quality,  with  1  as  the  lowest  and  5  as  the highest Each EIA category is suitable for certain uses and not for others      Category 1 -Basic Twisted pair cabling used in Telephone system -Fine for voice but inadequate for all but low-speed data communication      Category 2 -The next higher grade, suitable for voice and for data transmission of up to 4Mbps Category 3 -Required to have at least 3 twists per foot -Can be used for for data tx ofup to 10Mbps -Now the standard cable for most telephone lines Category 4 -Must have at least 3 twists per foot -Possible tx rate of 16 Mbps Category 5 -Used for data transmission of up to 100 Mbps ƒ     UTP Connectors o    UTP is mostly connected to the networked devices via a type of snap-in plug like that used with telephone jacks o    Connectors are either male (plug) or female (the receptacle) o    Male  connectors  snap  into  female  connectors  and  have  a  repressible  tab  (key)  that locks them in place

o    Each wire in the cable is attached to one conductor (or pin) in the connector o    The most frequently used of these plugs is an RJ 45 connector with 8 conductors, one for each wire of 4 twisted pairs