Coaxial cable has many advantages over fiber optic, Ethernet and twisted pair cables in network media, but it also has distinct disadvantages. You should know all of these before deciding on a type of cable for use in your networks. Otherwise, you may be saddled with a type of cable that is not well-suited for your office or work environment.
Less Data Loss
The design of a coaxial cable is very simple, but very effective at preventing data loss. At the core of the cable is a copper wire, and this is surrounded by a layer of plastic insulation. Surrounding this is a sheath of metal. This metal layer protects the electromagnetic field being carried by the copper from influences from the outside world. Without this shielding, the wire would be susceptible to noise from battery chargers, computers, generators, radio transmitters and even lights.
Distance
Coaxial cables have a maximum effective range of 500 meters. Ethernet cables, by comparison, have a range of only 100 meters. This means that a network supported mostly by coaxial cables requires fewer repeaters. Repeaters are devices that fill the gaps between cables by transmitting their signals to the next cable down the line. However, a network that uses a lot of repeaters can be more expensive, and it can be prone to data loss as well.
Susceptible to Damage
Coaxial cable is particularly vulnerable to damage from lightning strikes because its copper core is a powerful conductor. If lightning strikes too near a coaxial cable, the energy will radiate from the core and into the plastic insulation surrounding it. Though plastic is not an effective conductor, it will still burn and render the cable useless. In addition, a cable compromised in this way is likely to destroy any equipment connected to it.
Cost of Upgrades
A company that uses coaxial cable only for one-way data transmission, such as for cable, will have to upgrade their entire network if they want to transmit data in two directions. An organization may run into this if they want to install high-speed Internet. This sort of system is known as "bidirectional," and it requires an entirely different infrastructure. Upgrading to this new infrastructure can be extremely expensive. The issue lies not with the cable itself, but with the equipment that connects to it.
Tags: coaxial cable, lightning strikes, plastic insulation, that uses, they want