Definition (1):
Network medium usually refers to the cable (metallic or fiber-optic) that links computers on a network. Since wireless networking is possible, it can also describe the type of wireless communications used to permit computers to exchange data via some wireless transmission frequency.
Definition (2):
Network medium refers to-“The physical channel used for transmission in the network. Wire, fiber, and air are the three media.”
Definition (3):
The network medium is the singular form of network media. Network media is the existent path or way over which an electrical signal travels while traveling from one substance to another. The common kinds of network media include coaxial cable, fiber-optic cable, twisted-pair cable, and wireless. These are briefly discussed below:
- Coaxial Cable: Coaxial cable includes a hollow outer cylindrical conductor surrounding a single inner wire built of two conducting components. One of these components, situated in the cable’s center, is a copper conductor. A flexible insulation layer surrounds the copper conductor. A metallic foil acting as the second wire in the circuit as well as the shield for the inner conductor is over the insulation material. The second shield or layer helps reduce outside interference.
- Fiber-optic Cable: It is a high-speed medium for data transmission. It includes plastic filaments or tiny glass carrying light beams. This cable transfers data at the light’s speed because it transmits data via light waves. It provides the fastest data transmission rate of any medium of data transmission. Fiber-optic cables are less susceptible to interference and noise compared to telephone lines or copper wires. A large part of the world’s internet backbone uses these cables because they provide large bandwidth and fast transfer speed.
- Twisted-pair cable: It is a kind of cabling, used for the most modern Ethernet networks, and telephone communications. A circuit formed of a pair of wires transmits data.
- Wireless: Computers use wireless communications for exchanging data via some wireless transmission frequency such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth.