Networking: A Beginner’s Guide Fifth Edition- P15:I have run into many people over the years who have gained good even impressive working knowledge of PCs, operating systems, applications, and common problems and solutions. Many of these people are wizards with desktop computers. | 52 Networking A Beginner s Guide Level or Category Level 1 Level 2 Category 3 Category 4 Category 5 Category 6 Rated Performance Not performance rated 1 Mbps 10 Mbps 16 Mbps 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps 1 Gbps Table 4-3. Twisted-Pair Performance Designations Coaxial Cable Many older networks those built prior to circa 1992 still have coaxial cable installed. Most of this coaxial cable is the thin variety which is RG-58 and is used with Thin Ethernet. A few may also use the thicker RG-8 cable for Thick Ethernet but this is rare. Thin Ethernet cabling is wired in a bus arrangement where each network segment starts with a terminator that connects to the end of the cable runs to each node in turn and ends with another terminator on the other end. The terminators contain special 50-ohm resistors and the network cable will not work unless both are installed. All the connectors in a Thin Ethernet system are BNC connectors a quick-release bayonet-style connector both reliable and easy to use. BNC connectors come in a variety of different styles to enable you to make just about any network connection you need along the bus. T-connectors have two female BNC connectors on each side of the crossbar of the T and a male BNC connector at the end of the shaft of the T. The two female connectors are used for the RG-58 cable coming into and out of a node while the male connector attaches to a female BNC connector on the node s Ethernet card. Barrel connectors have two female connectors that are used to connect two Thin Ethernet wires together. Barrel connectors are also available in different shapes including an elbow bend and a U-shaped bend but usually the simple straight barrel connector is used. Figure 4-2 earlier in the chapter shows the various parts of a Thin Ethernet BNC cable system. Coaxial cable has a central conductor which can be either a solid single copper wire or a stranded set of wires. A white plastic material surrounds the central conductor which is surrounded by a metal .
