Twisted pair cable is a type of ordinary wiring which connects home and many business computers to the telephone company. It is made by putting two separate insulated wires together in a twisted pattern and running them parallel to each other which helps to reduce crosstalk or electromagnetic induction between pairs of wires. Twisted pair cable is good for transferring balanced differential signals. The practice of transmitting signals differentially dates back to the early days of telegraph and radio. The advantages of improved signal-to-noise ratio, crosstalk, and ground bounce that balanced signal transmission brings are particularly valuable in wide bandwidth and high fidelity systems.
According to whether the cable has a shielding layer, there are two common types of twisted pair cables—shielded twisted pair (STP) cable and unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable. STP cable is available for Token Ring networks, while the UTP cable is more suitable for Ethernet networks. The most common UTP cable types applied in Ethernet network are cat5e, cat6a and cat7 cables, etc. The following image shows the different structure of UTP and STP cables.
Pros: Twisted pair cable is more flexible and cheaper than coaxial cable and fiber optic cable, and it is easy to install and operate.
Cons: It encounters attenuation problem and offers relatively low bandwidth. Besides, it is susceptible to interference and noises.
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