Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!ukc!icdoc!sot-ecs!tjc
From: tjc@ecs.soton.ac.uk (Tim Chown)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: What *is* "twisted pair"? (was Re: Thick or Thin Ethernet?)
Message-ID: <6314@ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: 17 Jan 91 10:05:01 GMT
References: <3832@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> <1991Jan16.175003.2978@zoo.toronto.edu>
Organization: University of Southampton, UK
Lines: 20

In <1991Jan16.175003.2978@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu (Henry Spencer) writes:

>If your users know what they're doing and can be trusted to treat your
>cable with respect, or are unsophisticated enough that they treat all
>hardware with respect, thin should be fine.  Otherwise, consider thick
>or twisted-pair (which runs separate cable from each user's box to a
>central hub where faults can be isolated).  We use thin within our machine
>room, but plan to go with twisted pair if/when we start doing Ethernet to
>users' offices.

What exactly is "twisted pair" and what are its performance
characteristics when compared against conventional (thin) ethernet?

You mention that you run the twisted pair back to a central hub. Does
this mean a separate connection to each office from the hub? 

Thanks for any comments (I'll post a summary if I get any e-mail),

Cheers,
	Tim