216:, so it can provide higher transmission rates than the twisted-pair. The center conductor is surrounded by plastic insulation, which helps filter out extraneous interference. This insulation is covered by a return path, which is usually braided-copper shielding or aluminum foil type covering. Outer jackets form a protective covering for coax; the number and type of outer jackets depend on the intended use of the cable (e.g., whether the cable is supposed to be strung in the air or underground, whether rodent protection is required). The two most popular types of coaxial cabling are used with
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154:(Cat5) is newer and has three to four twists per inch, which results in a maximum data rate of 100 Mbit/s. In addition, there are category 5e (Cat5e) cables which can support speeds of up to 1,000 Mbit/s, and more recently, category 6 cables (Cat6), which support data rates of up to 10,000 Mbit/s (i.e., 10
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Coaxial cables have two different layers surrounding a copper core. The inner most layer has an insulator. The next layer has a conducting shield. These are both covered by a plastic jacket. Coaxial cables are used for microwaves, televisions and computers. This was the second transmission medium to
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Optical fiber is a thin and flexible piece of fiber made of glass or plastic. Unlike copper wire, optical fiber is typically used for long-distance data communications, being that it allows for data transmission over far distances and can produce high transmission speeds. Optical fiber also does not
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is still prudent and necessary to an increasingly wireless world. Wireless and physical media may actually complement each other, and physical media will matter more, not less, in a society dominated by the wireless technology. However, other opinions by people consider physical media a dead
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networks, has a maximum cable length of 500 meters and transmission speeds of 10 Mbit/s. It's expensive and not commonly used, though it was originally used to directly connect computers. The computer is connected to the transceiver at the cable from the
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Copper wire is currently the most commonly used type of physical media due to the abundance of copper in the world, as well as its ability to conduct electrical power. Copper is also one of the cheaper metals which makes it more feasible to use.
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and the local loop, in the form of HFC architecture. HFC brings fiber as close as possible to the neighborhood. Fiber terminates at the neighborhood node, where coax fans out to provide home service.
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to carry international traffic. It was then introduced into the data processing realm in the mid 1960s. Early computer architectures required coax as the media type from the terminal to the host.
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Greater channel capacity - each of the multiple channels offers substantial capacity depending on the service location (6 MHz wide in North
America, 8 MHz wide in Europe).
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to carry signals over a maximum distance of about 2 kilometers. Single mode fiber is approximately 10 μm in diameter and is capable of carrying signals over tens of miles.
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Greater bandwidth - compared to twisted pairs, it has greater bandwidth for each channel. This allows it to support a mixed range of services (voice, data, video, multimedia).
231:(BNC) on each end to connect to computers. Thinnet is part of the RG-58 family of cable with a maximum cable length of 185 meters and transmission speeds of 10 Mbit/s.
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121:, especially when compared with modern streaming media or content that has been downloaded from the Internet onto a hard drive or other storage device as files.
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Great noise - the return path has some noise problems, and the end equipment requires added intelligence to take care of error control.
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This article is about physical medias as materials. For the physical media in the context of society and the media industry, see
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of its network card using a drop cable. Maximum thicknet nodes are 100 on a segment. One end of each cable is grounded.
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require signal repeaters, which ends up reducing maintenance costs, since signal repeaters are known to fail often.
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Most copper wires used in data communications today have eight strands of copper, organized in unshielded
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There are two major types of optical fiber in use today. Multimode fiber is approximately 62.5
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The next major use of coax in telecommunications occurred in the 1950s, when it was deployed as
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has sufficient frequency range to support multiple channels, allowing greater throughput.
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networks and is the thinner and more flexible of the two. Unlike a thicknet, it uses a
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in them, it was possible to replace those big cables with much smaller coaxial cable.
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refers to the physical materials that are used to store or transmit information in
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In the midst of the 1920s, coax was applied to telephone networks as inter-office
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on which coax is deployed is susceptible to congestion, noise and security risks.
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Susceptible to damage from lightning strikes - if lightning is conducted by a
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Like copper wire, optical fiber currently costs about $ 1 per foot.
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With technology constantly changing, there is a debate on whether
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were predominantly based on coax from 1980 to about 1987.
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Physical materials used to store or transmit information
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The term physical media can also be used to describe
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Lower error rates - the inner conductor serves as a
161:On average, copper wire costs around $ 1 per foot.
45:It has been suggested that this article should be
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306:that protects the network from electronic noise.
470:. Telegraph Media Group Limited. Archived from
234:Thicknet coaxial cabling is used with Ethernet
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442:. Addison Wesley Professional. p. 928.
494:"Physical Media Is Dead, Long Live the App"
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28:Computer data storage § Storage media
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393:. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 36–44.
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241:attachment unit interface
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338:Debate on physical media
326:High installation costs
229:Bayonet Niell-Concelman
125:Types of physical media
257:copper wire and cable
188:light-emitting diodes
521:Computer networking
268:Local area networks
76:data communications
21:Media preservation
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492:Malik, Om.
318:bus network
247:Application
130:Copper wire
93:media like
500:2017-11-30
478:2017-11-30
423:5 December
351:References
281:Advantages
220:networks.
107:LaserDiscs
26:See also:
289:system-co
287:Broadband
99:cassettes
515:Category
496:. GIGAOM
275:cable TV
218:Ethernet
165:Optical
119:Blu-rays
236:10BASE5
225:10BASE2
95:records
53:discuss
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253:trunks
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80:copper
167:fiber
158:/s).
84:glass
48:split
444:ISBN
425:2012
395:ISBN
316:The
210:coax
156:Gbit
150:/s.
148:Mbit
115:DVDs
111:CDs
103:VHS
82:or
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