How To Identify Different Types of Data Cable

Practically everything that transmits data from a transmitter over a cable to a receiver is referred to as data cable. Here are some of the different types of data cable:

• Parallel cables. Parallel cables are used primarily to connect printers to computers and other peripheral devices. The parallel data lines secure high-speed data exchange designed for processing printing jobs. Parallel cables, however, are becoming a thing of the past, as most of the devices nowadays are being connected via USB ports.
• PLC cables. PLC programming cables are intended for connecting industrial controllers to computers and other peripherals. PLC cables in general can be programmed from a computer using a serial cable.
• Modular cables. Examples are the straight through RJ45 network cable, EIA/TIA 568B and the cross over RJ45 network cable, EIA/TIA 568A. Modular cables are widely used in computer networks and common data phone and voice wiring schemes such as analog and digital telephone connections.
• USB Cable. A Universal Serial Bus or USB cable is used to connect a USB device to a host. USB supersedes serial and parallel ports and it can connect keyboards, mice, joysticks, printers, scanners, external drives, flash disks, gamepads, cameras, music and media players, etc. The usual hosts include computers, PDAs, video players and video game consoles among others. A USB cable can be a software cable, connectivity cable, transfer cable or a mobile cable. USB cables can have multiple types of plug ends. The connector types of a USB cable include Standard-A, Standard-B, Mini-B, Micro-A, Micro-B, and Micro-AB, which complement the hosts’ or devices’ receptacles, also known as ports. Standard-A for instance is the type used on a computer recognized as USB ports. Standard-B receptacles are present in printers or scanners. Mini and Micro ports are typically on small and portable devices such as handsets and digital cameras.

Many portable gadgets today have USB ports where you can connect your device through a USB data cable. Mobile phones for instance give you the liberty to store a variety of data in your phone such as documents, applications, contacts, tasks, notes, photos, music, ringtones, and video files that you can transfer to your personal computer. If you have external drivers where you can relocate the same data for backup, you simply connect the external drive’s USB cable to your computer as well. Digital cameras can also directly send photos to a printer. Music files from an MP3 player to another portable player or computer and vice versa can be transferred in no time using data cables.

USB cables are also widely used for charging and syncing devices. Most smart handsets today can let you charge and synchronize data by just plugging the device into a USB powered connection. Moreover, a mobile data cable can connect as a dial up to the Internet. There are various types of mobile data cables, but all of them can enable your phone to function as a modem, provided the handset offers Internet features. Thus wherever you are, via a data cable plugged into your handset you can surf the Internet, send emails, chat and do any task requiring an Internet connection.