Anubhav Kumar

• May 11th, 2016

 

Bandwidth. All other factors remaining constant, the greater the bandwidth of a signal, the higher the data rate that can be achieved.
Transmission impairments. Impairments, such as attenuation, limit the distance. For guided media, twisted pair generally suffer more impairment than coaxial cable, which in turn suffers more than optical fiber.
Interference. Interference from competing signals in overlapping frequency bands can distort or wipe out a signal. Interference is of particular concern for unguided media, but it is also a problem with guided media. For guided media, interference can be caused by emanations from nearby cables. For example, twisted pair are often bundled together, and conduits often carry multiple cables. Interference can also be experienced from unguided transmissions.
Proper shielding of a guided medium can minimize this problem.
Number of receivers. A guided medium can be used to construct a point-to-point link or a shared link with multiple attachments. In the latter case, each attachment introduces some attenuation and distortion on the line, limiting distance and/or data rate.