Coaxial cable operates better than open wire, as it is buried in the ground and not subject to the elements. When used in Local Area Networks to interconnect computers, the most popular form is RG-58AU cable, commonly called thin Ethernet . Thin Ethernet is cheap to install and is rated at 10 million bits per second. Each end of the cable is terminated using a 50ohm terminator. Failure to terminate each end of the cable, or a break in the cable, causes the network to fail.
Coaxial cable is used extensively in networking and data communications.
A center conductor is separated from an outer conductor by an insulator medium. The cable cannot be crushed or bent sharply, as this damages the insulation between the conductors and thus alters the electrical characteristics of the cable. When used for local area networking, it links PC's together. As open wire gave way to better systems, so coaxial cable has given way to others. The problem with coaxial cable is the number of speech channels available per cable.