Network Cable

A computer network passes data from one computer to another.

It does this by using physical cables of some kind.

Exactly what type of cable is used will depend on the type of network, the distance between nodes (end points), and the speed of data transmission.

For example, a standard 100Mb/s Ethernet network should use 'Cat 5' cabling. 'Cat 5' means the cable has a well defined standard electrical specification that the network engineer knows will work with that type of network.

On very fast or long distance networks, optical cable may be used. Older types of network may use 'coaxial cables'.