- 2074 Chaitra · 3+5 marks
Compare twisted pair, coaxial, fiber
Short answer
Twisted pair uses copper wires, electrical signals, low bandwidth, short distance, and is cheapest. Coaxial cable uses shielded copper, medium bandwidth and distance, good EMI immunity. Fiber optic uses light, very high bandwidth, long distance, immune to EMI, but expensive and difficult to install.
Define transmission media. Compare among twisted pair, coaxial cable and fiber optic.
Transmission media
Transmission media is the physical path (cable) or wireless channel that carries data signals between sender and receiver. It is either guided (twisted pair, coaxial, fibre) or unguided (radio, microwave, infrared).
Comparison
| Point | Twisted pair | Coaxial cable | Fibre optic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | Two twisted copper wires | Copper core, insulator, shield, jacket | Glass/plastic core and cladding |
| Signal | Electrical | Electrical | Light |
| Bandwidth / data rate | Low (up to 1 to 10 Gbps for Cat6/6a) | Medium (up to about 500 Mbps to 1 Gbps) | Very high (Tbps) |
| Max distance without repeater | About 100 m | 185 m (thinnet) to 500 m (thicknet) | Many km |
| Attenuation | High | Medium | Very low |
| EMI immunity | Poor (UTP), better (STP) | Good | Immune |
| Security | Easy to tap | Moderate | Hard to tap |
| Cost | Cheapest | Medium | Most expensive |
| Installation | Easy, flexible | Moderate, bulky | Difficult, needs special tools |
| Connector | RJ-45 | BNC | SC, ST, LC |
| Use | LAN, telephone | Cable TV, old Ethernet | Backbone, long-haul, ISP |
✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)
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