The main components are used in the Ethernet cabling are
1. Patch Cable (Twisted pair)
2. RJ45 Connector
3. Ethernet Ports
4. Crimping Tool
1. Patch Cable (Twisted Pair):
1. These Cables are generally made up of 8 wires in different colors.
2. Four of them are solid colours, and the others are striped.
3. The eight colors are white green, green, white orange, blue, white blue, orange, white brown and brown. The following figure 13.8 shows the patch cable.
Ethernet cables are normally manufactured in several industrial standards such as Cat 3, Cat 5, Cat 6, Cat 6e and cat 7. “Cat” simply stands for “Category, ”. Increasing the size of the cable also lead to slower transmission speed.
4. The cables together with male connectors (RJ45) on each end are commonly referred as Ethernet cables. It is also called as RJ45 cables, since Ethernet cable uses RJ45 connectors.
2. RJ45 Connector:
- The RJ45 connector is a small plastic cup which will be used to connect the wire inside the connector and ready to connect the Internet.
- The RJ45 connector looks similar like a telephone jack but it looks a slightly wider.
- The Ethernet cables are sometime called as RJ45 cables.
- In RJ45 the “RJ” stands for the Registered Jack and the “45” simply refers to the number of interface standard in the cable.
- Each RJ45 connector has eight pins and connected to each end of the Ethernet cable.
- Since it has 8-position, 8-contact (8P8C) modular plug, It is also known as 8P8C connector. Th£se plugs (connector) are then inserted into Ethernet port of the network card.
3. Ethernet card and Port:
- Ethernet card is a Network Interface Card (NIC) that allows computers to connect and transmit data to the devices on the network. It may be an expansion card or built-in type.
- Expansion card is a separate circuit board also called as PCI Ethernet card which is inserted into PCI slot on motherboard of a computer.
- Now a days most of the computers come with built-in Ethernet cards which resides on motherboard.
- Wireless Ethernet cards are also available, which uses radio waves to transmit data.
- Ethernet port is an opening which is a part of an Ethernet card. It accepts RJ45 connector with Ethernet cable. It is also called as RJ45 jack. It is found on personal computers, laptops, routers, switches, hubs and modems.
- In these days, most of the computers and laptops have a built-in Ethernet port for connecting the device to a wired network.
4. Crimping Tool:
- Crimping is the process of joining two or more pieces of metal or wire by deforming one or both of them to hold each other.
- The crimping tool is a physical tool which is used to connect the patch wire and the Ethernet connector.
- The tool will puncture the connector and makes the wire set in the connector.
