THE BEECHMONT CREST NETWORKING GUIDE:
ONLINE GUIDE TO NETWORKING / NETWORK + EXAM OBJECTIVES
Part II: Network Media and Cabling
ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE (EMI) and CROSSTALK
Electrical devices such as printers, air conditioning units, and television monitors can be sources of electromagnetic interference, or EMI.
EMI can become a problem when network cables are installed close to such devices. Some types of network media have more resistance to EMI than others. Standard UTP cable has minimal resistance to EMI, while fiber optic cable is highly resistant.
Crosstalk occurs when signals on two different network cables corrupt each other. Once again, not all network media are equal in their level of resistance. However, fiber-optic cable is once again the most resistant form of media, owing to its light-based data transmissions.