A Little Information About Computer Cabling

You need to have computer cabling to get the Internet to your home, and to connect networks within your home and your business. There are a lot of choices in cables, depending on what you need, where you are, and how long the distances you have to span. Picking the right cable for the right job is important. Certain cables are better for some things than others.

When you understand what cables do what, and what choices you have you are better equipped to get what you need. One kind of computer cabling that you hear a lot about is Ethernet cables. This is used to connect computers to routers and modems. You can also use Ethernet cable to attach a computer straight to a network without having to send it through a modem, hub or router. You have to have a card with the right jack in your computer to use an Ethernet cable. It looks like a phone jack only wider and shorter, by just a bit.

There are several levels of Ethernet computer cabling. You can get it in Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, and Cat6a. They also come shielded, and twisted. In the past, Cat5 cable was the standard. You could get it in a solid core or twisted core. The solid care is much less likely to break when you have to run the wire over long distance. Fraying wires carry less load and cause more noise interference on the lines. Twisted Cat5 cable is excellent for short runs, like from a modem to a computer. This is what you see the most of. When you get a new modem or router, you get a lot of cables. The cable is usually blue, making it easy to know which one is which.

There are new standards in computer cabling. Cat6 is the newest category of Ethernet cable. It carries more information and a higher speed, and at a better frequency. With faster and more powerful computers, there needed to be improvements in cabling. No matter how advanced computers get, there is always going to a need for cables for your computer.