Fiber Optic Cable
• Consists of a small core of glass or plastic surrounded by a cladding layer and jacket.
• Fibers are unidirectional (light only travels in one direction) so two fibers are used, one for sending and one for receiving. Kelvar fibres are placed between the two fibres for strength.
• Good for very high speed, long distance data transmission.
• NOT subject to electrical interference.
• Cable can't be tapped and data stolen => high security
• Most expensive and difficult to work with.
• Immune to tapping.
• can transmit at 100 Mbps and way up to 2 Gbps
• up to 2000 meters without a repeater.
• Supports data, voice and video.
needs specialized knowledge to install => expensive all round.
| Cable Type Comparisons | |||||||
| Type | Speed | Distance | Installation | Interference | Cost | # of nodes per segment | # of nodes per network |
| 10BaseT | 10 Mbps | 100 meters | Easy | Highly susceptible | Least expensive | 1 computer | |
| 100BaseT | 100 Mbps | 100 meters | Easy | Highly susceptible | More expensive than 10BaseT | | |
| STP | 16 to 155 Mbps | 100 meters | Moderately Easy | Somewhat resistant | More expensive than Thinnet or UTP | | |
| 10Base2 | 10 Mbps | 185 meters | Medium Difficulty | Somewhat resistant | Inexpensive | 30 | 1024 |
| 10Base5 | 10 Mbps | 500 meters | More difficult than Thinnet | More resistant than most cable | More expensive than most cable | 100 | 300 |
| Fiber Optic | 100 Mbps to 2 Gbps | 2000 meters | Most difficult | Not susceptible to electronic interference | Most expensive type of cable | | |
