| Characteristics | Thinnet Coaxial (10Base2) |
Thicknet Coaxial (10Base5) |
Twisted- Pair (10BaseT) |
Fiber-Optic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cable Cost | More than twisted-pair | More than Thinnet | Least Expensive | More Expensive |
| Usable Cable Length | 185 meters (or about 607 feet) | 500 meters (or about 1640 feet) | 100 meters (or about 328 feet) | 2 kilometers or 6562 feet |
| Transmission Rates | 10 Mbps | 10 Mbps | 4 - 100 Mbps | 100 Mbps or more (1 Gbps) |
| Flexibility | Fairly Flexible | Less Flexible | Most Flexible | Not Flexible |
| Ease of Installation | Easy | Easy | Very easy | Difficult |
| Susceptibility to interference | Good resistance | Good resistance | Susceptible to interference | Not susceptible |
| Special Features | Electronic support components less expensive than twisted pair | Electronic support components less expensive than twisted pair | Same as telephone wire; often pre-installed in buildings | Supports voice, data, video |
| Preferred Uses | Medium to large sites with high security needs | UTP -- smaller sites on budget STP -- Token Ring in any size |
Any size installation requiring speed and high data security and integrity | |
| Other Names | Thinnet, ThinLAN, Cheapernet | Thicknet, Yellow Wire | Cat 5 | |
| Other Notes | Because the signal travels in only one direction on Fiber Optic Cable, you must run two cables for send & receive communications to occur. |
Cable Categories 1 through 5 are based on the EIA/TIA-568 standard. Levels 6 and 7 are enhanced Category 5 cables and are not yet standardized.
| Category | Cable Type | Application |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UTP | Analog voice |
| 2 | UTP | Digital voice, 1 Mbps data |
| 3 | UTP, STP | 16 MHz Voice; 10 Mbps data |
| 4 | UTP, STP | 20 MHz Voice; 16 Mbps data |
| 5 | UTP, STP | 100 Mbps data Level |
| 6 | UTP, STP | 155 Mbps data Level |
| 7 | UTP, STP | 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps) data Level |
Page Last Updated: Friday, September 28, 2001