Questions (A) State the characteristics of UTP cable Physical Characteristics

UTP cables use eight wires grouped in four pairs, each composed of a solid-colored wire and a stripped wire. Each wire is twisted a certain number of times to minimize interferences with the other pairs. A higher number of twists per inch results in a higher data transmission. The Electronic Industry Association and Telecommunication Industry Association have established six speed standards for UTP cables, with category 1 cables being the slowest and category 6 cables the fastest

Performance
The category of a UTP cable has a high impact on its usage range. Category 1 cables have a speed of 1 Megabit per second, or Mbps, and can only be used in telephony. Category 2, 3 and 4 cables are used in telephony and low-speed networks. Category 5 cables have a speed of 100 Mbps in a two-pair configuration, known as 100BaseT Ethernet, and 1,000 Mbps if all 4 pairs are used, such as in Gigabit Ethernet. Category 6 wires are capable of speeds up to 10,000 Mbps. Category 5 cables are the most used in regular networks, while category 6 cables are more specific to high-speed networks between servers.

Uses
UTP cables use RJ-45 connectors, a larger version of a telephony connector. The order of the wires in the connector varies depending on the use of the cable. Two types of wiring exist: straight and crossover. Straight wiring is used to connect different types of devices, such as computers and switches. In a straight-wiring configuration, both connectors have the same wiring arrangement at both ends, known as T568B. Crossover cables are used to connect devices of the same type together, such as computer-to-computer or switch-toswitch, and have one end wired in T568B configuration and the other end in a similar configuration but with two reversed pairs. This configuration is known as T568A.

Limitations
The maximum length of a single segment of UTP cable should not exceed 295 feet to avoid data loss. In addition, do not use UTP cables in environments with high electrical or radio interference potential. Shielded twisted pair, or STP, cables are recommended for such environments.

(B)

What is the function of RJ45 connector

RJ45 is name of connector types used for Ethernet connections on computers and other Ethernet networking devices like routers andswitches and also modems and other devices which support Ethernetinterface

(C) Give the diffences between straight-through connection and crossover connection. Straight-through connection
1) Connect a computer to a switch/hub's normal port. 2) Connect a computer to a cable/DSL modem's LAN port. 3) Connect a router's WAN port to a cable/DSL modem's LAN port. 4) Connect a router's LAN port to a switch/hub's uplink port. (normally used for expanding network) 5) Connect 2 switches/hubs with one of the switch/hub using an uplink port and the other one using normal port.

Crossover connection
1) Connect 2 computers directly. 2) Connect a router's LAN port to a switch/hub's normal port. (normally used for expanding network) 3) Connect 2 switches/hubs by using normal port in both switches/hubs.