UTP is a short form of Unshielded Twisted Pair wires. It is a 100 Ω cable made up of copper that comprise of 2 – 1800 pairs of unshielded twisted cable. All these pairs are enclosed by an outer cover. There is no metallic shield. It reduces the size of the cable in diameter.
The absence of safety against electrical interference is its major disadvantage. The twist aids in enhancing its resistant towards EMI and electrical noise. Let us know more about UTP cables in detail.
Size of UTP cable
The copper wire of backbone UTP and horizontal cables are 24 AWG or 22 AWG. 24 AWG is the commonest size. Higher-performance wires such as Category 6 UTP employ a large-sized 23 AWG copper cables. Prime Cables is a leading place to find finest quality UTP cables at the best price.
Types of UTP cable
UTP cables are classified into two major categories:
Solid Conductor UTP Cable
Solid conductor UTP wires come with one solid conducting copper cable that works as a conductor. Not just they are physically stronger and convenient to work with, such larger cables exhibit superior level electrical properties that remain constant over a broad range of frequencies.
Solid conductor wires have low susceptibility and low DC resistance to high-frequency effects. These characteristics enable solid conductor to support higher data rates and longer transmission than its stranded wire counterparts.
Stranded Conductor UTP Cable
Stranded-conductor UTP wires work as a patch wire in telecommunication rooms or work-related areas.
In these twisted stranded cable pairs, each conductor is made using a bunch of small sized gauge wire strands. They are arranged in a way that several conductors surround one wire at the center of the bundle. All the external wires are enveloped in a helical fashion around the main central wire by a process known as stranding.
These stranded wires from one conductor with a diameter equal to the diameter of a single solid wire, but with a smaller conducting region. This type of stranding of the conductor safeguards them and provides flexibility to stranded cables.
Applications of UTP CABLE
UTP cables are majorly used for establishing LAN networks. They are used for various applications such as voice, high-speed data, low-speed data, paging, and audio systems, and to build control, and automation systems. UTP wires can be used in both backbone and horizontal cabling subsystems.
UTP wires are mainly used for voice applications. Voice UTP wires only required to carry analog signals. They are highly robust and don’t get easily corrupted through EMI or electrical noise. High-quality UTP wires are needed to assist data systems that use digital signaling.
This article has covered various specifications of a UTP-Twisted-Pair Cable.