3.1.10

Question 1

What are the differences between metal conductor, fibre optic, and wireless transmission media in terms of speed?

Answer 1

Metal Conductor (Copper): Up to 100 Mbps over short distances (e.g., 100 meters).

Fibre Optic: Very high speeds with much higher bandwidth than metal cables.

Wireless (Wi-Fi): Over 100 Mbps, but can vary based on interference and signal strength.

Question 2

What are the differences between metal conductor, fibre optic, and wireless transmission media in terms of reliability?

Answer 2

Metal Conductor (Copper): Highly reliable, especially for short to medium distances.

Fibre Optic: Extremely reliable, not affected by electromagnetic interference.

Wireless (Wi-Fi): Generally reliable but subject to interference from walls, other signals, and range limitations.

Question 3

What are the differences between metal conductor, fibre optic, and wireless transmission media in terms of cost?

Answer 3

Metal Conductor (Copper): Relatively inexpensive for short distances, but installation can be costly for large-scale setups.

Fibre Optic: Expensive due to the need for special manufacturing and conversion boxes.

Wireless (Wi-Fi): Low installation costs since multiple devices share a single access point.

Question 4

What are the differences between metal conductor, fibre optic, and wireless transmission media in terms of security?

Answer 4

Metal Conductor (Copper): Good security; physical access required to tap into the data.

Fibre Optic: Excellent security; harder to intercept compared to copper.

Wireless (Wi-Fi): Poor security; signal can be intercepted outside the building, making it vulnerable.

Question 5

Distinguish between a wired network and a wireless network in terms of reliability
of transmission.

Answer 5

The reliability of wireless depends on the strength of the wireless signal;
Depends on distance from router;
depends on the topology/shape of the surroundings;
a wireless LAN has slower data transfer;

whilst

Ethernet is more reliable as the strength of the signal does not depend on the
distance from the router/ wired LAN support longer distances;
wired is immune to interference;
there is no issue with the topology/shape of the surrounding;
but the Ethernet cable may be cut/broken affecting reliability;