Choosing the Appropriate Medium Network Medium Choosing the Appropriate Medium

Considerations Speed (Bandwidth) Distance Environment (Attenuation) Security Cost

Communication Standards Professional organization that helps set transmission system standards. International Standards Organization (ISO) Responsible for Catx (Twisted Pair) The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Responsible for 802.11x (WiFi) Infrared Data Association (IrDa) Bluetooth Special Interest Group (Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba)

Speed (Bandwidth) Speed or bandwidth is especially important when transmitting large files. Industrial standards specify the performance of the medium. Fiber Optic up to 2.5 Gbs Cat 6 up to 1000 Mbs UTP Coaxial cable 1000 Mbs 802.11g up to 54Mbs 802.11n Greater than 100Mbs Bluetooth 700 kbs - 1 Mbs

Distance The further that data travels the signal becomes attenuated (become weaker) Distances may be affected by the environment and the amount of network noise (interference) Cat 5e/6 Distances of up to 100m Fiber Optic 2 Kilometres Coaxial cable 500 m 802.11n Up to 100m Bluetooth 10 m IrDa 1 m

Environment Interference (static) that destroys the integrity of signals on a line. Noise can come from a variety of sources, including radio waves, nearby electrical wires, lightning, and bad connections. One of the major advantages of fiber optic cables over metal cables, light and radio wavves is that they are much less susceptible to noise.

Security The less susceptible to Interference (EMI) the less prone to eavesdropping. Fibre Optic Cable not susceptible to EMI Twisted Pair UTP Very Susceptible STP Good resistance Coaxial Good resistance WiFi Very Susceptible

Cost You pay for speed, distance and security. The most expensive and difficult cable to install is Fibre Optic The cheapest and easiest cable to install is twisted pair. Wireless networking is reliatively inexpensive and very easy to install but there is a greater need for router encryption.

What is attenuation data loss experienced in a transmission media as a function of length Attenuation increases as the distance a signal increases. Attenuation will eventually prevent a signal reaching its intended destination.