Applied Computing

The main forms of wired transmission media used in computer networks send data using electrical energy or light energy.

UTP cable

Unshielded Twisted Pair cables are arguably the most widely used LAN connection. These are the CAT5 blue Ethernet Cables. 

This cable has four twisted pairs of copper wires surrounded by an outer jacket. Standard UTP cabling can support 100 Mbps and Gigabit Ethernet can support 1000Mbps.

Coaxial cable

Coaxial cables are another electrical energy transmission medium. However these are used in cable television and broadband networks. 

They consist of a central conducting wire surrounded by insulation, a metallic shield and an outer protective layer. Coaxial cables transmit data over much further distances compared to UTP and provide better resistance against interference.

Today most individuals and businesses rely on the flexibility and convenience of wireless network connections.

Cellular Networks

Mobile phone networks also use radio waves to send data. As the wireless signals from individual phones only reach a limited distance to connect to another phone, the signal needs to be received by a mobile phone tower, which is then connected to a vast celular network composed of wired and wireless connections

Wi-fi

Wi-fi is used to provide high-speed network access to many devices without the need for a wired solution.

Wi-fi technology uses radio waves to transmit, operating mainly on the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequencies.

Satellite