In-Depth Networking Project: Devices, Cables, and Network Design

This networking project report provides a detailed overview of various networking devices and cable types. It begins by defining and explaining the functions of bridges, routers, DSL modems, switches, network interface cards (NICs), and hubs, illustrating how these components work together in a network. The report then delves into different types of network cables, including Category 3, Category 5, Category 5e, Category 6, Category 6a, and Category 7, outlining their specifications, capabilities, and costs. It highlights the evolution of these cables, from the older Cat 3 to the high-performance Cat 7, emphasizing their respective bandwidths and data transfer speeds. The document concludes with a reference list, citing relevant sources used in the analysis.

Running head: NETWORKING PROJECT
Networking Project
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Question 1
Bridge: A bridge primarily acts as an interconnection between two LAN connections that are
using the same protocol. It can be used to connect different types of networks such that they
can intercommunicate and perform as one LAN connection. It can also be used as a repeater
working in the data link layer with the additional function of data packet filtering using the
MAC addresses of the source and the destination of the packets.
Router: A router can be defined as a device that can be used to direct data packets by using
their IP addresses (Medhi & Ramasamy, 2017). It is a device that works in the network layer
and can be used to find the best possible route for a packet of data to reach its destination.
Routers are primarily used to establish connection between LAN and WAN and have a
dynamic routing table that continuously updates itself while making routing decisions for
data packets.
DSL Modem: A digital subscriber line can be used to transmit data packets over telephone
connections. Therefore, a DSL Modem is a modem that can be used to establish a connection
between a digital subscriber line and a computer. This modem features a DSL filter that can
be used to block any high frequency interference and therefore supporting the simultaneous
use of voice services along with DSL services.
Switch: It is a device that works in the data link layer and can be used to check for errors in
data before forwarding them to their respective destinations. It is a bridge with multiple ports
and is designed to boost its performance and efficiency by using many ports.
Network interface card: It is a vital part of a computer that it uses to connect to a network.
NIC is classified depending on the type of connection it uses. It can be either a wired
connection popularly known as an Ethernet or a wireless connection that is known as Wi-Fi
(Liang & Yu, 2015). The type of NIC card used depends on the configuration of a computer

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and the environment it is about to be used. Generally, users opt for wired NIC if they require
a connection with stability and speed and they opt for wireless NIC if they prefer mobility.
Hub: A hub functions as a repeater with multiple ports. It is used to connect multiple wires
originating from different stations. They do not support the feature of filtering data and thus
these packets are directly sent to their destinations. They even cannot develop the best path
for data packets and thus there is a huge amount of time wastage and packet loss while
transmitting data.
Illustration of a network
The network begins with a DSL modem being connected to a DSL line. The modem
establishes a connection between a DSL line and the required network. It modulates and
demodulates the incoming signals. A router is then connected to the DSL modem. The router
functions as a device that would create the best possible path for the data packets entering
from the DSL line. A router is necessary to establish a connection between the DSL modem
and the network and is responsible for reducing the time required for a data packet to reach
its destination after entering the network (Gebali, 2016). A switch is then connected to the
router to filter the corrupted data packets from the incoming packets of data. This device is
necessary as there are many corrupted data packets among the packets arriving at the
network. Filtering the corrupted data packets helps to boost the experience for the Internet
users as they would get less lags and achieve non-corrupted file transfers over the network. It
is then connected to a hub before linking to several workstations connected through ethernet
wires. The computers can be connected to the network by using different network topologies
such as star, tree, bus, mesh and hybrid. The choice of the topology depends on the number of
computers to be connected to the network and the level of communication that they want to
achieve (Younis et al., 2014). A bridge can be connected to the router to create support for a

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Wi-Fi network (Mahmood, Seah & Welch, 2015). A switch is connected to the bridge to
boost the filtering effectiveness of the network. The workstations to be connected wirelessly
is then connected to the network with the help of the switch. Due to the bridge, the wired and
the wireless NIC now works as a single local area network.
Question 2
Different types of Network Cables
There are six types of network cables that are primarily used for:
 Category 3: Category 3 or Cat 3 is one of the earliest types for ethernet cables that are
used for our daily purposes. Cat 3 is an unshielded twisted pair type cable with a
bandwidth of 16 MHz and is capable of transmitting voice and data at a maximum
speed of 10 Mbps. It was very highly used in the 1990s and was used for every
computer network. After the invention of the Cat 5 cable, Cat 3 was barely used for
any networks. However, these cables are still used in telephone systems featuring two
lines and for some old 10BASE-T network installations. The cost of a Cat 3 cable
ranges from 0.18 to 0.46 US dollars per meter.
 Category 5: Cat 5 replaced the category 3 cables in its utilization in computer
networks. It is also an unshielded twisted pair cable with the capabilities to transfer
data at higher speeds. Cat 5 cables can be used to transfer data at 10 Mbps and 100
Mbps and with a maximum bandwidth of 100 MHz. The 100 Mbps cables are the first
series of cables where the concept of fast ethernet cables were introduced. These
cables were use for telephone lines as well as fast data transfer. The cost of these
cables ranges from 0.01 to 1 US dollars per meter.
 Category 5e: A Cat 5e cable is an upgraded variation of Cat 5 cable. Cat 5e was
created to reduce the interference between different channels flowing through the

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same cable. Crosstalk that is transmission of unwanted signals are eliminated using
these cables. Cat 5 is still used for existing network connections. However, the new
connections are employ 5e cables. The Cat 5e cables comes in three varieties 10
Mbps, 100 Mbps and 1000 Mbps. The 1000 Mbps cable is also known as Gigabit
ethernet cable and is h=the most commonly used Ethernet cable available in the
market. These cables support a maximum bandwidth of 100 MHZ and can be used in
any modern network as it is backward-compatible with Cat 5. The cost of a Cat 5e
cable ranges from 10 to 30 Us Dollars per roll.
 Category 6: Cat 6 has higher transmission capabilities than Cat 5e. Cat 5e supports
Gigabit ethernet speed at 100 Mhz however Cat 6 supports the same speed at a
bandwidth of 250 Mhz. Several features were improved in these cables that included
higher grade insulations and the wires are thinner than Cat 5. The improvements in
these cables support a higher signal-to-noise ratio and these cables are mostly used for
environments with high electromagnetic interference. Cat 6 is available in both
shielded twisted pair cable as well as unshielded twisted pair cable and is more
expensive that the Cat 5e cables. Cat 6 is backward-compatible with its predecessors.
These cables cost from 30 to 90 Us dollars.
 Category 6a: The category 6a cable is also known as the augmented Category 6 cable.
The cat 6a cables is an improvement on Cat 6 cables as they allow a transmission of
10,000 Mbps of data transfer speed. The maximum bandwidth supported by a vat 6a
cable is 500 MHz, which is an exact double of Cat 6 cable bandwidth. These cables
are only available in shielded twisted pair for and thus they have special connectors
that connect the cable to the ground.
 Category 7: Cat 7 is a fully shielded cable, which is also known as Class F cables.
These cables support a transmission speed of up to 10 Gbps along with a 600 MHz

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bandwidth. The Cat 7 cables are shielded twisted pair cables that is further screened.
The different layers of shielding and insulation are higher than the Cat 6 cables. The
intense shielding and insulations make these cables thick, bulky and very difficult to
bend for small area purposes. The layers of Cat 7 must be grounded to improve the
performance of Cat 7 cables otherwise they might not have better functionality than
Cat 6 cables or even Cat 5 cables. Due to this reason, the knowledge of different
connectors at the end of the Cat 7 cables is vital.

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Reference List
Gebali, F. (2016). Analysis of computer networks. Springer.
Liang, C., & Yu, F. R. (2015). Wireless network virtualization: A survey, some research
issues and challenges. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 17(1), 358-380.
Mahmood, M. A., Seah, W. K., & Welch, I. (2015). Reliability in wireless sensor networks:
A survey and challenges ahead. Computer Networks, 79, 166-187.
Medhi, D., & Ramasamy, K. (2017). Network routing: algorithms, protocols, and
architectures. Morgan Kaufmann.
Younis, M., Senturk, I. F., Akkaya, K., Lee, S., & Senel, F. (2014). Topology management
techniques for tolerating node failures in wireless sensor networks: A
survey. Computer Networks, 58, 254-283.