A+ Study Guide: Networking

UTP using the 10BaseT specification is the most used type of twisted pair cable in Category 5 cabling. In this cable though each individual wire is not insulated, each wire is twisted around each other.

The main disadvantage of UTP is that it is more susceptible to electrical noise and interference than other types of networking media, and the signal needs to be boosted at shorter distances than that of coaxial and fiber optic cables. The maximum cable length is 100 meters or 328 feet (10BaseT).

Let us see the commonly used types of UTP cabling:

• Category 3/Voice is commonly used in 10BaseT networks; it can transmit data at speeds up to 10 Mbps.

• Category 5e/Data can transmit data at speeds up to 1000 Mbps (1 Gbps).

• Category 6/Data is currently the fastest standard for UTP.