Many IT professionals and cabling gurus wonder, “Why are the wires inside Ethernet cables twisted?” The structure can seem like a total mystery until you take a closer look at the mechanics at play. Continue reading to uncover why the wires are twisted.
What Does Twisting Do?
Inside Ethernet cables, you’ll find twisted pairs of wires, which are two insulated copper wires braided together. The twisting design helps reduce internal electrical interference. Essentially, this provides shielding for each Ethernet wire.
Interference from other pairs within a cable can cause crosstalk, reducing data transfer speeds and obstructing signal transmission. Each twisted pair cable has its bandwidth and data rate parameters.
Further Into the Cable Itself
While the voltage in an Ethernet cable is relatively low, it’s still detectable, and the twists in the conductor pairs safeguard the line from itself. Each twist reverses the polarity of the conductors, canceling out discrepancies in their unique electromagnetic fields.
As a result, you achieve electromagnetic equilibrium, so people also refer to Ethernet cable as balanced twisted pair. You need to watch out for internal frays and leaks. Interference from other couplings within a cable can cause crosstalk, reducing data transfer speeds and obstructing signal transmission.
Why Use Different Colored Pairs
If you’ve ever looked inside an ethernet wire, you’ve seen the many colors at work. These colors are there to let people know they’re using the same scheme on both ends. Typically, these couples adhere to the same pattern where one wire in the pair is a solid or predominantly solid colored wire, while the other is mainly white with a colorful stripe. The following is a typical example:
- Blue and Blue/White
- Brown and Brown/White
- Green and Green/White
- Orange and Orange White
We hope this short guide has helped answer the question, “Why are the wires inside Ethernet cables twisted?” Essentially, the twisted pairs prevent electrons in one wire from interacting with another. When you need Ethernet cables for your home or business, CableWholesale offers bulk network cables to help connect multiple computers and other devices to your server. Feel free to contact us with any questions about our products.
