Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The concept of connecting computers together into networks has been around
almost since first pair of computers was built. The advent of the personal computer
and client/server architecture rapidly accelerated the need for networking.
Originally, computer networks were constructed using coaxial cable. Although coax
has been replaced by twisted-pair technology, it is important to show the types of
coax and connectors that were used, because you may encounter them in legacy
installations. It is a small irony that the newest type of networking, wireless, still
uses good, old coax to connect external antennas.
In addition to coax, we will show a reference table for standard wire sizes and
also cover nonpaired wire types.
Table A.1 shows the standards for copper wire, as used in the United States and
other countries. These standard sizes and characteristics are referred to as American
wire gauge (AWG).
TABLE A.1
American Wire Gauge for Selected Solid Bare Copper Wire Sizes
Gauge
Nominal diameter
Area, circular
Nominal resistance,
(AWG)
mm
inches
mils
ohms/kft
10
2.60
0.1019
10380.0
0.9989
12
2.05
0.0808
6530.0
1.588
14
1.63
0.0641
4107.0
2.525
16
1.29
0.0508
2583.0
4.016
18
1.02
0.0403
1620.0
6.385
20
0.813
0.0320
1020.0
10.15
22
0.643
0.0253
640.4
16.14
24
0.511
0.0201
404.0
25.67
26
0.404
0.0159
253.0
40.81
28
0.320
0.0126
159.8
64.9
30
0.254
0.0100
100.5
103.2
32
0.203
0.0080
63.21
164.1
34
0.160
0.0063
39.75
260.9
36
0.127
0.0050
25.00
414.8
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology.
