Layer 1 - Copper
Copper cables carry low voltage electric signals (NEC defines low volatge systems between 0 and 49 Volts) Back in the day, copper was the medium initally used to cross the counrty back in the days of CW, and Telegrams. With the Advent of the Telephone this copper need to handel more bandwidth and longer distances “twisted pair” copper wires were used for telephone wires. These twised pair wires have evoled over time to bring us to todays CAT6a 10 Gig and Cat8 40 Gig Copper cabling.
Twisted Pair
Twisted Pair Cables are divided into differnt “Cateorgies” (CAT). Cable Cateories are standards of cable set via ANSI/TIA-568. These Cateoriges define the needed bandwidth (measure in MHz) of the copper cable, as well as other testable parameters: Wiremap/pinout, cable length, Cross Talk, resistance, etc. More Details on Cable Certification Here Cable manufactures meet these increasing cable standards by increase cable conductor quaility and gauge, twist rate, and jacket ratings/shielding.
Twisted Pair Cable Categoies
| Category | “Bandwidth” | Max Distance | Usage | Typical Gauage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category 5 | 100 MHz | 100m (328ft.) | 100 Mbps Ethernet | |
| Category 5e | 100 MHz | 100m (328ft.) | 1 Gbps Ethernet | 24 AWG |
| Category 6 | 250 MHz | 100m at 1 Gbps or 37m at 10 Gbps | Gig Ethernet | 23 AWG |
| Category 6a | 500 MHz | 100m (328ft.) | 10 Gbps Ethernet | 23 AWG |
| Category 7 | 600 MHz | 100m | 10 Gbps Ethernet | AWG |
| Category 7a | 1000 MHz | 100m at 10 Gbps or 40 Gbps at 50m | 10 or 40 Gbps Ethernet | AWG |
| Category 8 | 2000 MHz | 30m (98ft.) | 25 to 40 Gbps Ethernet | 22 AWG |
Twisted Pair Cable Sheilding
- UTP
- STP
Pinouts
| Pin | Signal | T568A | T568B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TX+ | White/Green | White/Orange |
| 2 | TX- | Green | Orange |
| 3 | RX+ | White/Orange | White/Green |
| 4 | TRD2 + | Blue | Blue |
| 5 | TRD2 - | White/Blue | White/Blue |
| 6 | RX - | Orange | Green |
| 7 | TRS3 + | White/Brown | White/Brown |
| 8 | TRS3- | Brown | Brown |
- Straight Through cables when the cable pairs match on both side, common practie is to use the T568B Pinout on eachside.
- Crossover cables in when one side is a T568A and the other is T568B ping outs where the send and recive pairs are swaped. This was needed when connecting like devices (computer to computer or router to router) before a technology Auto MDI-X which will swap send and recive cable pair and removes the need for crossover cables.
Tripp-Lite Ethernet Cable Refernce
Copper Connectors
- RJ45: Registered Jack 45
- TwinAx / Direct Attached
TwinAxel Cables
Coixal
Coax cables are commonly used for Cable TV and Internet, and for Wifi Antennas. This type of copper cable deserves its own posts as there are many cable and connector types.