Basic Cablling
Are there other cable specifications?
Yes. There are several different specifications used to classify cable. One of the oldest is the AWG (American Wire Gauge) rating. This rating measures the thickness or gauge of the wire with the size being inverse to the rating. For example, a 22 AWG cable is thicker than a 24 AWG cable. 22 AWG wire is typically used in telephone wire and UTP.
IBM uses its own system of cable classification whereby cables are categorized as �types.� For example, Type 3 wire is basically equivalent to the Category 3 wire discussed earlier. However, not all of the types used by IBM coincide exactly with a particular category. In the non-IBM world, UTP cable is typically referred to by its category classification and coax by its RG designation.