Network cabling

Once you make your decision to put your computers on a network, you’re ready to begin connecting the computers using special network cabling. For a small business with only a few devices to hook up, there are really only a couple types of network cables that can be considered a reasonable choice: coaxial and twisted pair.

Coaxial cabling resembles the wire used for hooking up cable television, and it was the first cable used for networking personal computers. It has a low cost and is relatively easy to install, and it doesn’t require a hub in its network. However, it’s not very easy to expand a network that consists of coaxial cabling, and there can be physical limitations to using this type of cable, especially if you want to have freedom to move your computers around. Additionally, coaxial cabling on a Macintosh network requires a special transceiver to handle the transfer of information from computer to computer.

Twisted pair cabling is a newer type of network cable, and it has a number of benefits over coaxial cable. Although it resembles ordinary telephone cable, twisted pair cabling has more stringent specifications regarding its susceptibility to outside electromagnetic interference than common telephone wire. Twisted pair cabling comes in two forms: unshielded twisted pair (UTP) and shielded twisted pair (STP). As the names of the two types imply, shielded twisted pair has more defense against electromagnetic interference than unshielded twisted pair; however, UTP is usually good enough for most companies.

What's the best network cabling to use with AccountEdge?

By far the easiest cabling to purchase and install is twisted pair cabling. We recommend it for use with all networkable MYOB products.

Note: Ethernet network terminology

 At this point, you’ve learned enough about networks to understand some of the terms that you might see at your local computer store when you’re shopping for networking equipment. Armed with this knowledge, you should be able to choose—and talk about!—the proper equipment for your business.
10BASE-T This is the technical name for an Ethernet network that uses twisted pair cable, and it’s probably the best choice for an affordable AccountEdge network. 10BASE-T stands for 10 MBps (the speed in which information travels along the network), baseband signaling (a method used by Ethernet networks to communicate), using twisted pair cable.
100BASE-TX This type of network equipment is for Fast Ethernet, which travels at 100 MBps using twisted pair cable.
10BASE5 10BASE5 is an Ethernet network that uses a thick coaxial cable. It’s not used very much anymore.
10BASE2 This type of Ethernet network uses a coaxial cable that’s thinner than the 10BASE5 cable. It’s still used, although infrequently, in small office networks.
10BASE-F This type of Ethernet network uses fiber optic cable, and usually only in large office networks.

Network cabling