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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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A bridge is a device that connects dissimilar network technologies that

transmit the same signal. In this case the bridge connects UTP to power lines.

There are many other places we see bridges: there are bridge devices to

connect wireless to UTP, coax to UTP, and so forth.

Ethernet over Power has its place in the right situations and recent

innovations have brought speeds up to almost matching Gigabit Ethernet. If

you have a computer in a weird place where wireless won’t work and

traditional cables can’t reach, try Ethernet over Power.

Structured Cabling

If you want a functioning, dependable, real-world network, you need a solid

understanding of a set of standards collectively called structured cabling.

These standards, defined by the ANSI/TIA—yes, the same folks who tell you

how to crimp an RJ-45 onto the end of a UTP cable—give professional cable

installers detailed standards on every aspect of a cabled network, from the

type of cabling to use to standards on running cable in walls, even the

position of wall outlets.

The CompTIA A+ exams require you to understand the basic concepts

involved in installing network cabling and to recognize the components used

in a network. The CompTIA A+ exams do not, however, expect you to be as

knowledgeable as a professional network designer or cable installer. Your

goal should be to understand enough about real-world cabling systems to

communicate knowledgeably with cable installers and to perform basic

troubleshooting. Granted, by the end of this section, you’ll know enough to

try running your own cable (I certainly run my own cable), but consider that

knowledge extra credit.

The idea of structured cabling is to create a safe, reliable cabling

infrastructure for all of the devices that may need interconnection. Certainly

this applies to computer networks, but also to telephone, video—anything

that might need low-power, distributed cabling.

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