What is the characteristic impedance of STP and UTP cabling?

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What is the characteristic impedance of STP and UTP cabling?

Characteristic impedance describes how a transmission line presents to a signal, and it’s what equipment expects to see to avoid reflections. For twisted-pair Ethernet cabling, both shielded (STP) and unshielded (UTP) are designed as a balanced line with a characteristic impedance of 100 ohms. This 100-ohm standard matches the Ethernet transceivers and the cable geometry to maintain signal integrity across the network. The shield alters noise immunity, not the impedance, so STP and UTP share the same 100-ohm characteristic. Values like 50, 75, or 120 ohms relate to other media or older systems and would not align with typical Ethernet hardware.

Characteristic impedance describes how a transmission line presents to a signal, and it’s what equipment expects to see to avoid reflections. For twisted-pair Ethernet cabling, both shielded (STP) and unshielded (UTP) are designed as a balanced line with a characteristic impedance of 100 ohms. This 100-ohm standard matches the Ethernet transceivers and the cable geometry to maintain signal integrity across the network. The shield alters noise immunity, not the impedance, so STP and UTP share the same 100-ohm characteristic. Values like 50, 75, or 120 ohms relate to other media or older systems and would not align with typical Ethernet hardware.

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