Guided media
A guided media is one which provides a
physical path from one device to another. These include twisted pair cable,
coaxial cable, and fiber optic cable. These use copper wires to carry signals.
Twisted pair cable
A twisted-pair cable consists of two
conducting wires twisted together. These twists help reduce interference and
crosstalk like impairments. One wire is conducting and other is ground
referenced. A twisted pair cable may be shielded or unshielded. By shielded
means having an additional coating. An UTP (Unshielded Twisted pair) is used
commercially, and a STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) is not.
Coaxial cable
A coaxial cable consists of all
conductors and covers along the same axis. One wire is cylindrical at its
center and other is in the form of mesh around it separated by a coating and
cylindrical in nature. Traditional cable TV operators make use of coaxial
cables.
Fibre cable
Fiber optic cable is used for long
distance transmission with signals in the form of optical signals. We may have
a single mode fiber optic cable which permits single optical signal to pass
through it or we may have a multimode fiber optic cable which permits more than
one optic signals to pass through it.
