Transmission Media Performance
Medium |
Cost |
Speed |
Attenuation |
EMI |
Security |
UTP |
Low |
1-100Mbps |
High |
High |
Low |
STP |
Moderate |
1-150Mbps |
High |
Moderate |
Low |
Coax |
Moderate |
1 Mbps-1Gbps |
Moderate |
Moderate |
Low |
Optical Fiber |
High |
10 Mbps-2Gbps |
Low |
Low |
High |
Radio |
Moderate |
1-10Mbps |
Low-high |
High |
Low |
Microwave |
High |
1 Mbps-10Gbps |
Variable |
High |
Moderate |
Satellite |
High |
1 Mbps-10Gbps |
Variable |
High |
Moderate |
Cellular |
High |
9.6-19.2 Kbps |
Low |
Moderate |
Low |
 | Cost: The cost of the material, plus installation |
| Speed: The maximum number of nits per second that a medium can transit reliably |
| Attenuation: The tendency of an electromagnetic signal to become weak or distorted over distance. |
| Electromagnetic interference (EMI): The susceptibility of the medium to external electromagnetic energy inadvertently introduced onto a link that interferes with the intelligibility of a signal. Familiar effects of EMI are static (audio) and snow (visual). |
| Security: Protection against eavesdropping. How easy is it for an unauthorized device to listen in on the link? |
