How Do Ethernet Cables Work?
If you are anything like me, I look at the back of my PC and am intimidated to even guess what the purpose for all those cables are. I rarely dare to go behind my computer and try to figure out how each one does what it needs to do. There are blue ones and black ones, short ones and long ones, thin ones and wide ones. I have my speaker cables, monitor, keyboard and mouse cables. I understand those but what about all the other ones? How are they able to work soA�seamlesslyA�when I turn on the computer and yet look so chaotic behind it? The computer cabling that is the most confusing for me is the ones to make the Ethernet work. How can one (fairly small) cable connect a whole home network to use the Internet? Even more fascinating, is its ability to create a whole office network.A�
What is the Ethernet? The Ethernet builds LANs (local area networks) into a network. Designed in 1973 by Bob Metcalfe, Ethernet requires at least two computers to be networked and an Ethernet cable to connect the two of them. This is where the notorious Cat 5 and Cat5e computer cabling comes into play.
Category 5 cabling (now superseded by the Cat5e cable) consists of twenty-four twisted copper wire pairs and is unshielded. Cat 5 cables are not only used as computer cabling, they are used for things such as ATMs and also for video. It is easy to spot a Cat 5 cables as they are typically blue and if there is ever any confusion as what it is, Cat 5 cables will have the term 'Cat 5' typed in white on the cable itself. The sole purpose of these cables is to transfer high speed information from the computers in a network. To do so, these computers need to be equipped with a network interface card (NIC). In addition, they need to have some sort of network hub to direct all the information. When it comes to computer cabling, Cat 5 cables are highways for information to travel and the ultimate destination is your computer.