Communications Media

The medium used for transmitting signals or data between computers is called communication media or networking media. Broad range of communication media have been developed to suite the diverse demands of computer networking. However, the goals of all these media remains efficient, effective, and economic and error free transmission of data. These media are categorized and priced according to the bandwidth they can provide, the maximum length they can carry data without any loss in data, the technology they use, and type of interference that disturbs data transmission in them. Following are the different types of communication media according to the primary material they use for communication/material used for their construction:

• Copper - twisted pair cable and coaxial cable use copper
• Glass - optical fiber uses glass
• Waves - all wireless media use waves

All types of cable including twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable and fiber optic cable all can be found in two grades:

• Plenum - Plenum-grade cable also called plenum cable refers to the cable with a protective layer or outer jacket made of fire retardant material such as: Teflon.


• PVC - PVC-grade cables are the cables which have outer jacket made of non- plenum - grade material such as: PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride). Materials made of PVC are cheaper than plenum-grade materials however they produce poisonous gas when set on fire.

The different types of communication media according to the technology they use are as follows:

1. Guided Media
   1. Twisted Pair Cable
   2. Coaxial cable
   3. Fiber Optic cable
2. Unguided Media
   1. Radio Technology
   2. Infrared Technology
   3. Microwave technologies
   4. Satellite microwave systems

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