In a

communications network A telecommunications network is a group of nodes interconnected by telecommunications links that are used to exchange messages between the nodes. The links may use a variety of technologies based on the methodologies of circuit switching, messa ...

, a drop is the portion of a device directly connected to the internal station facilities, such as toward a

telephone switchboard A telephone switchboard was a device used to connect circuits of telephones to establish telephone calls between users or other switchboards, throughout the 20th century. The switchboard was an essential component of a manual telephone exchange, ...

, toward a switching center, or toward a telephone exchange. A drop can also be a wire or cable from a pole or cable terminus to a building, in which case it may be referred to as a downlead. These cables may be reinforced to withstand the tension (due to gravity and weather) of an aerial drop (i.e., hanging in air), as in "messenger" type

RG-6 RG-6/U is a common type of coaxial cable used in a wide variety of residential and commercial applications. An RG-6/U coaxial cable has a characteristic impedance of 75 ohms. The term, ''RG-6'', is generic and is applied to a wide variety of ...

coaxial cable, which is reinforced with a steel messenger wire along its length.

Sources

Federal Standard 1037C Federal Standard 1037C, titled Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms, is a United States Federal Standard issued by the General Services Administration pursuant to the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, a ...

, in support of MIL-STD-188

External links

* Drop Wire Information https://web.archive.org/web/20140419020353/http://www.dropwire.co.uk/ Telecommunications equipment {{Telecomm-stub